Summary

This milepost was erected in the 1820s by the Plymouth Eastern Turnpike Trust. It has remained in or very close to its original location and it reflects the improvements made to the turnpike system in this part of Devon during the early C19.

Description

A cast-iron milepost of the 1820s erected by the Plymouth Eastern Turnpike Trust.

DESCRIPTION
The milepost is triangular in section with a semi-pyramidal top. It is painted white with black lettering. Raised text on the left face reads: ’14 MILES TO PLYMO,’ and on the right face is ’14 MILES FROM PLYMO’.

History

The milepost is situated on the south side of the B3213 at its junction with Kingsbridge Road (B3121). It was one of 15 or possibly 16 such markers erected in the 1820s along the Plymouth to South Brent section of the London to Plymouth Post Road (the old A38) by the Plymouth Eastern Turnpike Trust, which was established in 1757. They were to a design known as Plymouth V casting and were originally painted white with the text picked out in black. The milepost north of Station Cross is believed to be in its original position and is shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1887. It was repainted in 2014 or 2015.

With the construction of the A38 dual carriageway in the 1970s many of these mileposts were deemed redundant and taken down. The post marking 11 miles is listed at Grade II, and the one at 13 miles was repaired and reinstated in the early C21.

Reasons for Listing

The milepost north of Station Cross is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* as a legible example of an early-C19 milepost that survives on or very close to its original location.

Historic interest:
* as testament to the continued wave of road improvement throughout the C19, following the widespread development of turnpike roads in the C18.

Group value:
*  it is one of a series of mileposts erected along this route by the Plymouth Eastern Turnpike Trust, and one other is listed.

Recommended Books

• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)