Milestone Approx 458M South-West Of Journey'S End

ST ERME

1105/0/10007 A30(T) 19-OCT-10 (North side) Milestone approx 458m south-west of Jo urney's End

GV II DESCRIPTION: Milestone, erected in the late C18 and altered in the late C19. The granite stone is painted white and is approximately 0.70m high. It is square on plan and has a pyramidal head. There are shallow, recessed panels to the west, south and east faces; the north side has not been dressed. The west and east sides are inscribed, in sans serif capitals: BODMIN / 18M and PENZANCE / 29M respectively; the lettering is picked out in black. An Ordnance Survey benchmark is carved on the upper part of the south face.

HISTORY: In 1754, the first Cornish turnpike was established. The next 10 years saw the establishment of several new Turnpike Trusts in the county, resulting in the construction of new roads and erection of milestones. There were notable pre-turnpike milestones in the county, including the spine road (the A30) between Carland Cross near Mitchell and Marazanvose. A number of milestones were erected along this section of road in the late C18 although it was never adopted as a turnpike road; such roads were not generally furnished with milestones and the origin of these markers has not been established. They were all originally inscribed with L for Lands End, R for Redruth, and P for Penzance, as well as the distances, but seven of the most easterly markers have been partially re-carved and their inscriptions changed to include PENZANCE AND BODMIN. This adaptation occurred in the late C19 following Cornwall County Council's adoption of a number of primary routes that had not been turnpiked.

The milestone on Newlyn Down which dates from the late C18 is one of the markers on the A30 that were altered in circa 1889-90. The Ordnance Survey map of 1880 gives the distances that were originally inscribed on the milestone as Redruth (11) and Lands End (39).

SOURCES: Cornwall County Council, Local Authority Heritage Assets Single Issue Panel (2007) http://db.cornwall.gov.uk/documents/download.aspx?doc=155293 Accessed on 13 August 2010

REASON FOR DESIGNATION: The milestone approximately 458m south-west of Journey's End on the A30, St Erme, is designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons: * Group Value: it stands in its original location and is one of a group remaining on this road, of which a number are designated * Historic Interest: it is unusually placed on a road that was never turnpiked and the re-carving of its inscriptions provides important evidence for the County Council's adoption of such roads in the late C19