B3273
B3273 | ||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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From: | St Austell By Pass (SX013520) | |||
To: | Mevagissey (SX014449) | |||
Distance: | 9.4 miles (15.1 km) | |||
Meets: | A390, unclassified | |||
Primary Destinations | ||||
Highway Authorities | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
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The B3273 is a largely rural B-road in south Cornwall and is the main road link to Mevagissey.
Route
The road originally started on the A390 East Hill and headed south along South Street. However, these are now unclassified and so the road starts at a double mini-roundabout system on the present A390 St Austell Bypass right next to a retail park. Turning left from the A390 westbound the route is marked for Mevagissey. The bypass has a 40mph limit but a 30mph limit starts as soon as the B3273 does. The retail park entrances on both sides of the road are passed and then the bungalow suburbs of St Austell are left behind for a more rural outlook. Unfortunately the 30mph limit is not left behind as it extends to the south under the buffer-zone principle.
The 30 limit does then end and the NSL can be enjoyed along a fairly straight section with good sightlines and a quality which would not disgrace most A roads. Evidence of improvements are on the left in the form of two ox-bow type lay-bys, clearly following road straightening. Unfortunately the 30mph limit returns quite quickly for the strange-monikered village of London Apprentice. There is a 220-yard advanced warning of this limit. The village consists of several houses and a general store. It is named after an 18th century ballad about a sailor who landed at Pentewan and, unable to work, travelled to London to learn his trade before returning to Cornwall to establish himself near St Austell (source: Daily Telegraph).
Once the village is left behind and the NSL is restored it reaches a wooded section that is rather narrower and which has a few bends. Presently there is a turn on the left for Pentewan Village, which is just off the main road, and then the large Pentewan caravan and camping site is passed. Here is the start of the 1922 new road. The roads climbs away from the back of the dunes up onto the coastal cliffs, which soon affords a good view of the seascape here.
Continuing with the bends the road then drops down to the coastal village and harbour of Mevagissey. Once the large main village car park is passed, the route comes across vary narrow streets and drivers cannot follow the B3273 to the end from this way because of one way restrictions. Vehicles have to turn left into Chapel Square and right into Church Street to find the end of the route at the junction of Church Street and Tregoney Hill. Turning right into Tregoney Hill is the route going the other way again and that takes you back to the end of the one-way system.
History
Pentewan to Mevagissey New Road
The 2.5 mile road was opened on 12 December 1922 by Sir Henry Maybury, Director-General of Roads. It was built to avoid the dangerous 1 in 5.5 hill on Cliff Road and School Hill into Mevagissey, the new road having a maximum 1 in 15 gradient via Valley Road. Width was between 18 and 20 feet. It was an Unemployment Relief Scheme. Total cost was £25,163. It was built in two sections, the first from Mevagissey to Tregiskey costing £14,500 and which may have opened earlier in the year. A charabanc inspection trip along the old roads by the Council officials and Chairman as the first section neared completion prompted the continuing with the second section from Tregiskey to Pentewan. The chairman confessed that the old roads were much worse than he imagined them to be.