Milestone on the north side of the B3315 in the boundary wall entrance to Trevescan Farm Café

Summary

A milestone, probably of early-to-mid-C18 date.

Reasons for Designation

The milestone on the north side of the B3315 in the boundary wall entrance to Trevescan Farm Café is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: it is the most south-westerly milestone in the country and as an early-to-mid-C18 example that forms part of one of the earliest groups of milestones in the county;
* Group value: it forms a strong group with other milestones along the route between Penzance and Lands End

History

In the period before the turnpike trusts were set up from the middle of the C18, the roads in Cornwall were poor and little more than bridleways capable of carrying carts and coaches occasionally. Despite this, a small number of these routes were marked by milestones, including the former packhorse route between Penzance to Lands End. In his work 'A Visit to Cornwall’, in 1755, William Wynne referred to the recent erection of milestones along this route. The milestone at the entrance to Trevescan Farm Cafe thus likely dates from the first half of the C18 and forms part of a group of stones that were erected along this road. The author Willkie Collins visited Cornwall in 1850 and wrote a book in 1851 describing his travels ‘Rambles beyond Railways’. In this he noted that travellers could observe ‘at some distance from the coast, an old milestone marked “1”’. The milestone is located on the site of the former turnpike from Lands End to Penzance, however between 1925 and 1934 this route was diverted, by-passing the road running through Trevescan and this marker.

Details

A dressed granite milestone that is set into the boundary wall of Trevescan Farm Café, on the east side of the entrance, and on the north side of the B3315, east of the junction with the A30 to Penzance. It is rectangular in plan with a pyramidal top and is approximately 0.6m high. The road (south) face has the Arabic numeral ‘1’. The stone, including the inscribed face, has been heavily weathered and part of the top has broken away.

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