MSO10546 - Early 19th Century milestone north of Oaktrow Quarries (Building)

Milestone. Early C19. Sandstone and cast iron. Slightly cambered head to stone attached plaque central semicircular headed top, inscribed in raised lettering: "7 miles to Minehead", sunk so that lowest row of lettering is obscured. The road was cut in the 1820s. [1] English Heritage Listed Building Number: 265315. First Listed on 05/06/1985. [2] Stone walls. [3] The milestone is shown on the 1st and 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey maps. [4,5] The milestone was visited in May 2012 as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor's Listed Buildings 2012-13. It received a BAR score of 1A and was noted to be elsewhere. [6] The construction of the 14 miles or so of the A396 road from Timberscombe southwards to beyond the County boundary with Devon was authorized under the Turnpike Act of 1822 and completed by 1827. A total of twelve Ham stone milestones were erected on the western side of the road to a standard design with cast iron plates inscribed with incised lettering reading 6 miles to Minehead to 18 Miles to Minehead. A survey of roadside heritage on this section of the A396 was carried out in 1985 or 1986 and showed that ten milestones remained largely complete but with some damage to stonework and wear and tear. A new survey at the end of 2005 showed that four milestones had subsequently been removed or seriously damaged in the intervening years. This milestone was recorded as complete in 1986 and not present in 2005.[7] A project in 2006- 2007 was set up by Somerset Historic Environment Service to repair the surviving milestones and replace the missing milestones. A new milestone was installed [8, 9] The building was assessed as part of the 2018-19 rapid condition survey of Exmoor’s Listed Buildings, receiving a BAR score of 5A. The survey found that the new stone was installed in the correct location, but that the old stone was still present near Steart. [10]