A3071 road
The A3071 is a minor 'A' road in the English county of Cornwall, which links St Just to Penzance and the A30. It is 6.2 miles long.
History
In the early 19th-century, mines in the parish of St Just were flourishing but there were no natural harbours along the north coast. Mule trains, pack-horses or wagons with four horses carried copper and tin to the harbour at the stannary town of Penzance. The wagons often grounded at the ford in the village of Hallen Tachen and a report in The West Briton newspaper on 26 May 1843 indicated that a bridge was to be built at by Mr Edward Harvey of Penzance. The bridge was funded by the mining industry and Nicholas Holman who had transferred his foundry from Copperhouse, Hayle to Tregeseal in 1834. The two-span grade II listed bridge was a rebuild of an older bridge, from which the parapets and terminal refuges survive. The bridge is built of granite ashlar with granite dressings except for the rubble walls of the older bridge. The wider span is over the stream and a narrow span over the leat to Roskennals Mill. There is an inscription of ″EH″ on the north side and ″1843″ on the southern side. The village of Hallen Tachen is now known as Newbridge.Turnpike
In 1863 the Penwith Turnpike Trust was formed. The road was the link between the mining region along the coast from St Just to Pendeen and carried heavy mining traffic to the harbour at the stannary town of Penzance. The Turnpike included two branches,- the current B3318 which leaves the A3071 at Deveral Common and crosses Boscaswell HIgher Downs. On Woon Gumpas Common the road splits with one branch reaching the north coast road at Trewellard and the other at Portheras Cross. Before the turnpike the original road left the A3071 at HIgher Tregerest, taking a steeper route over Dry Carn Hill.
- a road now known as Turnpike Road or New Road, leaving the A3071 at a road junction to Sancreed, serving the foundry at Nancherrow.
Milestones
A number of milestones and guide stones mark the route, some still surviving in their original position. They are of two designs, the earlier ones which predate the Turnpike Trust have arched tops and the ones erected by the trust have pyramidal tops. Some are listed,;A3071
| Miles to Penzance | Photograph | Date | Description | Grade |
| 1 | – | At. | ||
| 2 | – | At. | ||
| 3 | – | A rectangular granite stone 1 metre high with a truncated rectangular pyramid top, to the west of Tremayne Farm. The painted black inscription is ″3″, in a square recessed panel.. | ||
| – | Early 19th century | An early 19th century guidepost the junction to an earlier road to Pendeen. It is a dressed granite monolith with a pyrimidal head and incised inscriptions at the front and rear. The front inscription reads ″SAINT″ over a hand pointer ″JUST ROAD and MORVAH″ and the rear inscription reads ″SAINT JUST TOWN 18-″.. | ||
| – | Early 19th century | Early 19th century guide post with incised inscriptions, with hand-pointers over the left-handed inscription ″St Just GP″. There is an Ordnance Survey bench mark under the right-handed inscription ″Pendeen″. Originally at and now at the current junction.. | ||
| 5 | – | Early 19th century | Early 19th century painted milestone, to the east of the former china clay works. The granite stone has a three-sided head and the Arabic numeral ″5″ in relief in a rectangular panel.. | |
| 5 | – | An early granite milestone, which predates the turnpike and is in its original position just to the east of the former china clay works. The stone is just over 1 m high, rectangular in plan with a rounded top and has black painted lettering. The inscription on the north face is ″FROM PENZ 5″.. | ||
| – | 1833 | 1833 granite stone at the junction of Turnpike Road and the road to Sancreed, with the following inscriptions on two sides. ″To Sancreed Church Town and Paul″ and ″Penzance Direct Road AD1833″.. | ||
| 6 | Small, painted granite guide stone with an arched head approximately 100m west of the road to Sancreed. The inscription reads ″From Penz. 6.″. | |||
| 6½ | – | 1836 | Painted granite stone with round-headed sides, at the junction with the B3306 to Land's End Airport and the A30, near Crows-an-Wra. There are carved pointed hands in oval panels and the incised lettering below is, ″To Penzance 6 miles. AD1836″ and ″To St Buryan 5 miles, To Lands End 6 miles″.. |
;B3318
- A rectangular, roughly hewn, painted white stone with smoother carving at the corners to the east of Bal Farm. On the west face is a recessed, nearly square panel with a black painted '6' in relief. The stone has a pyramidal cap with a flat top..
- The 1863 stone is rectangular in plan, the white-painted stone has roughly hewn surfaces with smoother carving at the corners. Above is a pyramidal cap with a flat top. A recessed panel on the west face has a black painted number ′ 6 ′ in relief which is the distance to Penzance.