More about MILESTONES and closely related OBJECTS

Since writing an article about milestones in 2000 many miles have gone under my wheels in search of same.
In so doing a great variety of types have been seen and recorded from the massive to the minute.
Milestones is a generic term which also includes mileposts. These are usually made of cast iron in a variety of shapes. Most common are:

1. Triangular with a hollow back two side panels and a triangular top, often with a raised back panel. Place names and distances on all available spaces. The post may be free standing or set against a wall or a supporting stone. Many of these record a Parish name on the top or else on a vertical rib at the front.
2. A 'matchbox' shape with an overall 'lid'. Many of this kind are to be found in the south of Wiltshire and in Somerset. Places and mileages shown in large raised characters.
3. Free standing with a cylindrical head on a round shaft. These are most common in Northern England and in Scotland.
4. A variation of the above with two oval panels at right angles. Again found in Northern England, with many examples on the Isle of Mull. Many are a product of Smith Patterson's Foundry in Blaydon.

In most cases the places and mileages are shown by raised characters. Long place names are usually abbreviated.
It is always worthwhile looking for the Foundry name and address.
The best-kept examples have a white background with black characters.

Milestones present their information by:

1. By engraving, deep or shallow. The character size ranges from small to quite large.
2. By painting; usually starting out with a white background and with black letters and figures. If badly renewed a puzzling mixture of overlapping characters can result. Also peeling paint is unsightly. Many of the stones on the A4 Bath Road suffer in this way.

Lastly, a cast metal plate, which is bolted on, is in general use. Again, these may be in fancy shapes, but rectangular is the most favoured. Abbreviations of place names are general. For example Malmesbury is shown as MALMSBY, MALMSB, Y MALMSBRY, MALMSBY Usually the information is in raised characters, or in some cases, sunken, which can resemble the engraving on a stone. The latter presentation would be more difficult to produce.
And now to some other interesting objects:

1. Obelisks; these often present a large number of place names and distances. These could have been latter day status symbols. Craven Arms in Shropshire lists no fewer than 36 places and distances. Another in Marlow in Bucks erected by the Reading and Hatfield Turnpike Trust shows alternative routes to Oxford amongst the twelve place names.
2. Direction stones; these do not show mileages, but do duty as finger posts. Ayrshire has a number of these, some massive, others small and inconspicuous. Another example 'L' shaped is on the A420 near Yatton Keynell in Wiltshire and a further one newly painted near Bitton in the Bristol area.
3. Boundary markers; sometimes combined with a milestone. One near Hay-on-Wye shows the boundary of Radnorshire Roads and the distance to nearby Clyro.

Amusing mistakes: On the Wotton-under-Edge to Bristol road B4058 a stone painted in 2001 bears the legend VIII miles to WOTTON X2 BRISTOL ! Clearly a misunderstood verbal instruction. In Bladon in Oxfordshire there is a small plate on a stone with the legend TO WOODFLOCK 1
I imagine in this instance that this is a replacement of an earlier plate with the elongated 'S' joined to the 'T' which to one not acquainted with the convention would read as 'fl',
To a casual glance this reads as Woodstock showing that the mind only sees what it wants to see!

Finally, since the original article a number of people have come together to form the Milestone Society to promote a better understanding and a more positive attitude to the protection of these objects of our National Heritage.

David Lyle