Milestone Circa 260M NW of Pencalenick Lodge

Details

ST CLEMENT

1146/0/10016 A390
14-FEB-11 Milestone circa 260m NW of Pencalenick
Lodge

II
A milestone of 1830.

DESCRIPTION
The milestone is located on a wide verge on the south side of the A390. It is constructed of granite, and triangular on plan, with a flat top and chamfered edges. It stands approximately 76 centimetres high. There are cast iron plates on both road-facing sides, set almost flush with the dressed stone. The left is inscribed 'TRURO 2 FALMOUTH 12 ½', the right 'BODMIN 22 ¼ LONDON 248'. The type faces of the two plates are different. The stone and the plates are painted white, with the lettering in black. There is a benchmark carved into the left face beneath the plate.

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 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. Under the renewal of the General Turnpike Act in 1828 further new roads were commissioned in Cornwall, in order to provide a 'modern' passage from Falmouth to London, with easier gradients and good surfaces for horse-drawn traffic. William McAdam, Surveyor for Truro Trust between 1825 and 1833, laid out the road, which was completed in 1830. Benjamin Bowden erected twelve milestones along the route, of which this is one, with cast-iron plates produced by the Perran Foundry Company.

In 1835, due to changes to another part of the route, the distance to Bodmin was incorrect. There are uniform discrepancies in distance on this, and the other milestones in the series, on the First Edition Ordnance Survey Map of c.1880. The Second Edition of 1907 shows the correct distances, suggesting the milestones were given new mileage plates sometime between these dates, probably after 1889 when the County Council took responsibility for the maintenance of the road.

Reasons for Designation:
The milestone circa 260 metres north-west of Pencalenick Lodge, St Clement, Carrick is designated in Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* Intactness: it is a good example of an early C19 milestone.
* Historic interest: it illustrates the development of the transport network in Cornwall and further afield.
* Design interest: it is part of the only series in Cornwall which indicates the distance to London.
* Group value: it has strong group value with the other ten surviving milestones along the road between Truro and Fraddon.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

508982

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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