Description

KEA

1045/0/10022 OLD COACH ROAD
14-FEB-11 Milestone circa 8m W OF NO. 32

II
A milestone of 1754.

DESCRIPTION
The milestone is located against a hedge bank on the east side of Old Coach Road. It is constructed of stone, and rectangular on plan, with a cylindrical, rounded top. It stands approximately 127 centimetres high, and is inscribed with the letters FROM TRURO 2 MILES which are picked out in black paint. The milestone is painted white. There is a benchmark at the top of the front face, and a metal pin on the top of the stone.

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. The Truro Turnpike Trust was established by Act of Parliament in 1754, and this milestone was one of the first to be erected. It stands on the former turnpike road to the south of Truro, which formerly ran via Calenick. This route is shown on C & J Greenwood's 1" map of Cornwall (1827), however, in 1829 a new route, across gentler gradients, was opened. This milestone is thought to have been left in situ, although its inscription may have been recut in 1825. The road's status as a turnpike was not removed until 1855. The milestone is marked on the First Edition Ordnance Survey Map of c.1880.

Reasons for Designation:
The milestone circa eight metres west of No.32 Old Coach Road, Kea, Carrick is designated in Grade II.
* Historic Interest: it testifies to the great wave of C18 road improvement, undertaken by Turnpike Trusts.
* Intactness: It is an intact milestone dating from 1754, with lettering, which remains in its original position.

Reasons for Listing

Yes List

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26675274

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
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  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
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  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)