Milestone Circa 40M South-West Of No. 7 Southlea Terrace

STITHIANS

1533/0/10029 UNCLASSIFIED ROAD 14-FEB-11 (South side) Milestone circa 40m south-west of No. 7 Southlea Terrace

II A milestone of 1756.

DESCRIPTION: The milestone is set into a hedge bank on the south side of the road. It is constructed of granite, and rectangular on plan, with a rounded top. It stands approximately 1.17m high, and is painted white. The milestone is inscribed with the letters FROM TRURO 9 MILES which are picked out in black paint. The top left-hand corner and the first letter of the carved inscription are damaged. The "9" is elaborately curled and there is a benchmark below the inscription.

HISTORY: Historically roads were maintained by the parishes they passed through. Sometimes this proved beyond them, and in 1663 the first turnpike trust (a pike - a billhook-like weapon - was sometime used to bar access down a road; turning it allowed access), was established, empowered to levy tolls towards the upkeep of a particular stretch of road. Initially there were few such trusts, but in the early C18 their number rose steeply; by 1750 most major roads had been turnpiked, and over the rest of the century and into the early C19 over 1000 turnpike trusts were established in all, the last in 1836. Milestones (along with toll houses, and rebuilt bridges and re-engineered sections of the roads themselves) are physical evidence of these trusts' activities.

From the mid-C18 onwards, turnpike trusts were encouraged to provide markers such as milestones and mileposts on the stretches of roads they operated. In 1754, the first Cornish turnpike was established, the Truro Turnpike Trust. A number of other trusts were set up over the next ten years, and new roads were constructed, and milestones erected. This milestone is one of four on a route created by the Truro Trust between Perranwell and Tretheague Bridge in 1756. It is shown on the First Edition Ordnance Survey Map of c.1880 in its current location.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The milestone circa 40m south-west of No.7 Southlea Terrace, Stithians, Kerrier is designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons: * Intactness: it is a good example of a mid-C18 milestone * Historic interest: it illustrates the development of the transport network in Cornwall and further afield * Group value: it has strong group value with the other three surviving milestones along the road south-west of Truro