Milestone Circa 50M North-East Of Railway Bridge

TRURO

880-1/0/10012 A39 25-JAN-11 Milestone circa 50m north-east of rail way bridge

GV II The milestone dates from circa 1829, and is of stone.

EXTERIOR: It is rectangular in plan, stands approximately 0.94m high, with a segmental-arched top, and is painted white. The stone is inscribed with the letters FROM / TRURO / 1 / MILE, which are picked out in black paint. The letters are sans serif capitals. There is an incised benchmark below the lettering on the front face.

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 Truro Turnpike Trust, the first in Cornwall, was established by Act of Parliament in 1754. One of the roads specifically mentioned in the Act was to lead from Truro via Calenick smelting-house, Higher Carnon, Cassaws Water, Penryn, and a milestone at the one-mile point on this route is marked on C & J Greenwood's map of Cornwall, published in 1827. The line of the road was altered immediately after this date, to allow for a less steep climb at this point, and the new route, which is followed by the present A39, opened in 1829. This milestone stands on the new route, at the one-mile mark, evidently replacing the earlier stone within Calenick village.

The milestone is marked near its current position on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1880, though it is now situated on the opposite side of the road from its earlier site. The road was straightened in the 1970s, creating a loop of the earlier road which is now a lay-by, and it appears that the stone was removed from its original position during this work, being later reinstated in its current position, just across the highway.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The milestone circa 50m north-east of railway bridge on the A39, Truro, is designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons: * Intactness: it is an intact milestone dating from 1829, which is in almost its original position * Group Value: it has group value with other listed milestones along this turnpike route * Historic Interest: it testifies to the great wave of C18 road improvement, undertaken by Turnpike Trusts