Guidepost approximately 350m north-west of Bosullow Cottage
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1410391
- Date first listed:
- 30-Jul-2012
- List Entry Name:
- Guidepost approximately 350m north-west of Bosullow Cottage
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1410391
- Date first listed:
- 30-Jul-2012
- List Entry Name:
- Guidepost approximately 350m north-west of Bosullow Cottage
- Location Description:
- Guidepost approximately 350m north-west of Bosullow Cottage, on an unclassified road, Bosullow Common, Morvah, Cornwall. NGR SW4147034808
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Cornwall (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Morvah
- National Grid Reference:
- SW4147034808
Summary
An early-to mid-C19 guidepost.
Reasons for Designation
The guidepost approximately 350m north-west of Bosullow Cottage, Bosullow Common, Morvah is designated Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: it is probably a pre-1840 guidepost used to direct travellers around a rural landscape;
* Intactness: as an intact example which remains in its original position;
* Group value: it forms part of a distinct group of guideposts in Penwith which retain a similar dressing and function
History
The Penwith ‘Finger Stones’ are a series of early-to mid-C19 guideposts which are scattered around the Penwith district. The stones differ in style, but all feature a hand with a pointing finger. Six stones have inscribed dates. The earliest date is 1819. One stone is dated 1834. Four stones are dated 1836. By the mid-C19 the roads in Penwith were heavily used to transport equipment to the various mines in the district and to nearby ports such as the one at Hayle. The guideposts may have been erected to help direct these travellers around the landscape. This guidepost does not have a date. It is likely to date from the early-to mid-C19, contemporary with the other similar guideposts. It was repainted in the early C21.
Details
The guidestone survives at the apex of an unclassified road junction on Bosullow Common. It is triangular in plan with a rounded top. The two faces have the following inscription: MORVAH AND ST JUST on the west and ZENNOR AND ST IVES on the east. The lettering is in Roman capitals incised into the stone surface. There is a representation of a pointing hand incised into each face above the lettering. A line broken by two dots is cut into the stone below the word St Just and St Ives, and a guidepost mark is inscribed at the bottom the St Just side. The stone has recently been painted which with the lettering picked out in black paint.
Sources
Other
Cornwall and Scilly Historic Environment Record SMR No MCO547000 Bosullow Common-Post Medieval signpost,
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 30-Jun-2026 at 04:17:28.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.