Milestone at Roseworthy, Gwinear-Gwithian, Cornwall

Entry Name: Milestone at Roseworthy

Listing Date: 24 January 2023

Grade: II

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1484301

ID on this website: 101484301

Location: Roseworthy, Cornwall, TR14

County: Cornwall

Civil Parish: Gwinear-Gwithian

Traditional County: Cornwall

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Cornwall

Summary

Milestone, early C18.

Description

Milestone, early C18.

MATERIALS: granite

DESCRIPTION: the milestone is approximately 69cm (27 inches) tall, square in plan with a pyramid top which is slightly damaged. On the left and right faces are raised inscriptions, approximately 18cm (7 inches) high, reading ‘L 22’ and ‘P 12’ respectively.

History

Milestones are one of the most widespread forms of street furniture. They became prevalent in the mid-C18, when turnpike trusts were encouraged to provide such markers, although until the General Turnpike Act of 1773 it was not obligatory for them to include mileage. A sequence of 23 milestones was erected on the road from Carland Cross near Mitchell in mid-Cornwall to Foundry Square in Hayle to the west between around 1720 and 1740.

Roseworthy is located on this road running east to west through Cornwall, and one of the early-C18 pre-turnpike milestones is located here. In the later C18 and early C19 the road, which passes over Roseworthy Bridge, became even more important as part of the packhorse route taking products of the mining industry to the port at Hayle.

The Hayle Bridge Causeway Turnpike Trust linked Hayle to Penzance in 1825 but it did not turnpike the road east from Hayle towards Redruth. However, the Trust rebuilt the road in 1839, still crossing Roseworthy Bridge but sweeping around the hills to make them easier to climb; none of the pre-turnpike milestones were removed. The road then became the principal route through Cornwall, the A30, until it was supplanted by the current dual-carriageway A30 with its by-passes which was completed in the late C20.

The raised inscriptions on the milestone were unfashionable by the mid C18, indicating an earlier date. The milestone is marked on the 1880 Ordnance Survey (OS) map, but on the opposite (south) side of the road near a mill leat. It is first shown in its current location on the 1938 OS map; it was possibly moved when the two turnings near the bridge were formalised. The surviving examples of the 23 milestones erected have ‘P’ for Penzance on the left-hand face and ‘L’ for Lands End on the right-hand face; here this is the opposite which may provide further evidence that the milestone has been moved.

Reasons for Listing

The milestone at Roseworthy which dates to the early C18, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* for its unusual location on a pre-turnpike route across Cornwall, but which later became its most important road.

Group value:

* with other listed milestones which were erected along the pre-turnpike route from Carland Cross to Hayle during the same period.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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.