Milestone At Three Mile Cross

SHINFIELD

1921/0/10028 BASINGSTOKE ROAD 14-JAN-09 THREE MILE CROSS (East side) Milestone at Three Mile Cross

GV II Milestone, early C19.

DESCRIPTION: Stone semi-circular column with a chamfered top located on the east side of the Old Basingstoke Road at its junction with Woodcock Lane. The column is painted white with black lettering. The inscription reads: on the top 'SOUTHAMPTON 43'; and on the side 'BASINGSTOKE 13 READING 3'. The word 'Southampton', while just discernible, is less apparent than the remainder of the inscription due to weathering and lichen growth, however the inscription on the side of the stone is deeply incised.

HISTORY: The milestone is marked on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1872. It is contemporary with other listed milestones to the south on the Reading-Basingstoke road. Comparison between the 1872 and the modern map suggests that the stone has been relocated from a position slightly to the south of where it presently stands but that it has always been located to the east of the Old Basingstoke Road at this road junction. The combination of the place name 'Three Mile Cross', presumed to indicate a crossroads three miles from Reading, and the milestone expressing this distance, adds further interest. In recent years the stone was apparently repainted with the mileage to Southampton incorrectly interpreted as '48', but at the time of listing the paint has worn away to reveal '43' again.

REASON FOR DESIGNATION: This early C19 milestone at Three Mile Cross is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * A legible example of an early C19 milestone, showing the expansion of the road network and the impact of the 1773 General Turnpike Act, which made the recording of mileage compulsory. * A stone which has group value with other listed milestones on the same road and of the same form. SU7147168227