Summary

A mid-C19 milestone on the A31 north east of Bere Regis, erected for the Puddletown and Wimborne Turnpike Trust.

Description

A mid-C19 milestone on the A31 north east of Bere Regis, erected for the Puddletown and Wimborne Turnpike Trust (1840-1873).
The milestone is rectangular on plan with a rounded top and inscribed with black painted lettering reading 'Dorchester 12, Wimborne 10'.
Three screw holes to the front indicate that the milestone previously had a cast iron plaque attached to it, added in the late C19 like the other milestones. This has been lost but the original lettering survived underneath.

History

The milestone stands on the present A31 road from Dorchester to Wimborne, along the line of the Puddletown and Wimborne turnpike road laid out in 1840 by the Dorset road engineer Charles Jetsy. The Puddletown and Wimborne Turnpike Trust was founded in 1840 and by 1847-8 the Trust had created 24 miles of road and five toll-gates in Dorset. It expired on 1 November 1873. In the late C19 cast iron plaques with the distances were screwed onto the milestones along the Puddletown and Wimborne route superseding the earlier inscriptions.

Reasons for Listing

The milestone on the A31 north-east of Bere Regis, Dorset is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Intactness: an intact milestone dating from the mid-C19 which remains in its original position;
* Group value: with the other listed milestones along the Puddletown to Wimborne turnpike route.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26677544

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

• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)