Summary

A milestone dating from about 1726.

Description

A milestone dating from about 1726.

MATERIALS
Local limestone, with iron plates.

DESCRIPTION
The milestone stands approximately 1m high, and is square in section. The top is pyramidal, but weathered. The roadside face carries two iron plates, one above the other. They are painted white, with the lettering picked out in black paint. The smaller, upper plate is inscribed: III, and the lower plate: Miles to / Glocefter.

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, though until the General Turnpike Act of 1773 it was not obligatory for them to include mileage. The six-mile road between Gloucester and Painswick was turnpiked in 1726, and the milestones along this road may date from this period, as the inscriptions include a long ‘s’ in Gloucester, indicating a date in the C18. Of the original seven milestones in this run, that at the Gloucester end had been lost by the late C19, as the area was subject to redevelopment and suburban expansion, and is not shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map published in 1886. The remaining six stones are all shown on the 1886 map, and of these, the stones at three, five and six miles from Gloucester remain in-situ in 2017. A fourth stone, at four miles from Gloucester, is in-situ but has been truncated, and has lost its upper half, including its plates.

Reasons for Listing

The milestone about 10m south-west of the King’s Head Public House in Upton St Leonard’s is listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: an intact and early milestone dating from about 1726, which remains in its original position;
* Group value: with the other milestones along the Painswick to Gloucester turnpike route.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q66478799

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

• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]