Summary

A milestone dating from the first half of the C18.

Description

The milestone dates from the first half of the C18, and is of stone. It is rectangular in plan, stands circa 0.9m high, and has a pyramidal top. It is inscribed 1 in relief, within a recessed rectangular panel; the stone is painted white and the numeral is picked out in black paint. It is partially set within the base of a Cornish hedge.

History

From the mid-C18 onwards, turnpike trusts were encouraged to provide markers such as milestones and mileposts on the stretches of roads they operated. The A30 from Penzance to Lands End was not a turnpike road, but was provided in the C18 with milestones marking the distance from Lands End; it appears from documentary sources that at the time the stones were set up, prior to 1755, the A30 was only a bridleway – it is mentioned by William Wynne in his " A Visit to Cornwall in 1755" that he travelled from Penzance to Lands End, and that it was " …10 miles the horse way, and milestones lately set up, but the Coachway is at least 12 miles to Senan [sic]". Wilkie Collins, writing in "Rambles beyond Railways" about a visit to the area in 1850, remarked on the first milestone in the run that local people considered it the original first mile in England. The milestone is marked on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1880. All ten of the milestones in this run survive.

Reasons for Listing

The milestone the A30 SE of The Firs at Tregonebris is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Intactness: It is an intact milestone dating from the first half of the C18, which remains in its original position;
* Group Value: it has group value with other listed milestones along this route;
* Historic Interest: it forms part of a rare group of stones erected on a bridleway, which later became the main route across this part of Cornwall, rather than on a turnpike route.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26675913

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
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  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)