Milestones, Benchmarks & Trigpoints

Milestones can be traced back to the Roman Empire where they marked the distance along the roads they built. On my travels round the country I have come across many milestones which can be seen along the roads but what gets me is that none are the same so I will show a few of the different kinds that I have come across.
I have begun to wonder if certain milestones are unique to the road they are on but I will start with the ones local to me on the A329 and we are lucky to have three still around.

This ivy covered one is by the former Fairmile Hospitalin Cholsey

This one near Moulsford reads Oxford 16

 

 This one outside Wallingford in Cholsey along the A329 has a Bencmark on the top you can see

There are others along the A 329  which can be see and the reason they are in good condition is most likely because they were moved in the war and replaced after.

 This one on the left is a fine example and is by the Black Horse in Gozzards Ford by Abingdon. and is similar to the other on the right at Nettlebed

Though the same can't be said for the one at Bix (above) and
Fairmile in Henley where the wording had been chiseled off in case of invasion in the second war.  The last four I'm sure were on a post road to London.

These two are a different shape again and are along the Bath Road between Reading and Newbury.

In Marlborough the one buy the town hall looks like a headstone


You may well have noticed some milestones have arrows on them, that is a benckmark put on there by Ordnance Survey and marked a particular hight above sea level

Like this one which you can find on a church  Or this one which is on a bridge near Pangbourne, note the number 5, 2,3,&4 don't exist any more but number one is on a water tower in Winchester

The one on the left here is on the Town Hall in Marlborough. The metal ones are called Flush Brackets and the ones cut in the stone cut marks which look like the one below.

One last place you can see a benchmark is on the side of one of these, I triangulation pillar, another of Ordnance surveys markers. So a few things to look out for if you are out for a walk. The milestones and Triangulation pillars tend to be marked on an OS map the bench marks I'm afraid you will have to watch out for.