I have a question about the waterloo & city line.

At waterloo, the station is under two of the arches of waterloo
station, and you can walk in from the street and just go straight to
the platforms after going down a slope.

At bank, you can either go down the travelator or the sloped steps, to
the platforms, from the street.

But at both of these, access is straight from outside to the platform,
and there doesnt seem to be any sort of booking hall before you get
there, or anywhere where one could have been.

So what I was wondering was whether when it was built over 100 years
ago, the line was free, or if they somehow had the worlds first (coin
operated) automatic barriers or something?