Milestone Se Of Pendragon House

DAVIDSTOW

1624/0/10010 A395 01-OCT-10 (North side) Milestone SE of Pendragon House

GV II LIST DESCRIPTION Rectangular milestone with rounded top, dating from circa 1833. The milestone is painted white with a black base. The black sans serif lettering is large and the clearly incised inscription reads 'L/13'.

HISTORY: The Launceston Turnpike Trust was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1760 to widen and maintain several roads leading to Launceston. At this time the main route into Cornwall was through Launceston from Okehampton in Devon, then around the northern edge of Bodmin Moor to Camelford, thence to Wadebridge, St Columb Major and points west. This milestone lies on this route between Launceston and Camelford.

The Haleworthy Turnpike Trust, also set up in 1760 controlled the road north of Camelford to Haleworthy. In 1769, the Bodmin Turnpike Trust was set up and established a new and direct route from Launceston across Bodmin Moor. The Haleworthy Trust, a "One Road Trust", struggled to survive this competition, but the Launceston Trust benefited from the increased traffic on its routes to the east. This probably prompted the Haleworthy Trust to hand over the road section between Haleworthy and Camelford to the Launceston Trust. This milestone was probably erected in 1833 following the takeover of this section of road but it was moved in 1843 following the relocation of the starting datum in Launceston from St Thomas' Bridge to the centre of Broad Street market.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION: The milestone SE of Pendragon is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * It is an intact example of a pre-1840 milestone, which retains its carved inscription * It has significance as part of an inter-related group of other listed milestones of the same type and date along this turnpike route * It is a good example of an early C19 milestone, illustrating the standardisation of roads and the introduction of turnpikes to facilitate the transport needs of the increasingly industrial landscape of C19 Cornwall