The road between Henley-on-Thames and Dorchester on Thames was made into a turnpike in 1736 and in the 18th and early 19th centuries Benson became an important staging post for coaches running between London and Oxford via Henley. Its broad open square was surrounded by coaching inns. At its peak the village had four large inns, ten smaller alehouses and a blacksmith. The opening, in 1844, of the Oxford branch of the GWR resulted in a rapid decline in coach traffic, so that within ten years only three Oxford-London coaches per week were running through Benson. The Henley – Dorchester road ceased to be a turnpike in 1873.