For the last three months, I've been actively thinking that I must hunt down some photos of these for my blog. The problem is that I'm usually in the car and there's usually no-where to pull over.
Finally, one while I was walking!
In Britain, the practice of erecting milestones originated with the Romans. Roman milestones were stone obelisks, often with no inscription other than the name of the emperor, erected at one mile intervals along the road. In Rome itself, there was a golden milestone, being the point from which the vastness of the Roman Empire was measured.
Mostly superseded by modern road signs, milestones are less common than they once were, but there are still some to be found; though not always in such good condition as this one. I will strive to photograph more whenever I can.
Do such things exist in your neck of the woods?
Gplly this brought back memories Helen - when I lived in Wolverhampton and used to visit my sister regularly (she lived in Breaston)I used to go through this place - it had a magnificent church on top of a hill, visible from miles around. I once climbed up to look round it. Thanks for the memory.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, the ones in my village (which is a couple of miles from Breedon) mis-spell the name!
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice clean decorative one!
ReplyDeleteNo. We have posts but not stones.
ReplyDeleteThat is a particularly well-kept milestone. Most of the ones around here are lost in the undergrowth and uncared for. I agree, we should have a campaign to return milestones to their full glory. "Adopt a Milestone" perhaps.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very smart one! I have included some canal mileposts on our blog. Will look out for one her on the Oxford in the next few days.
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ReplyDeleteI still see milestonss all over Europe (unless me brain's gone fuzzy). None as handsome as this one, though. But I don't see them in Asia. As a child on road trips, I could obsess over them... counting until I inevitably fell asleep.
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