MIlestone at the Lower Ferry, Kingswear, Devon.
There's been a ferry crossing between Kingswear and Dartmouth since the early 1700's but this milestone is thought to date to the early 19th century. It stands at the top of the short slope down to the ferry and marks the start of the old Dartmouth to Torquay Turnpike Trust. It can just be seen in my previous posting, on the corner of the wall where the roads divide.
It is unusual in having the distances in miles, furlongs and poles, (the M F P carved above the numbers) the latter two now mostly defunct forms of measurements.
I think 40 poles = 1 furlong and 8 furlongs = 1 mile...but that makes no sense on what is carved on the post?!
(Forget that last remark. I've just twigged those are the exact measurements and not alternatives. Doh! Someone went to a lot of effort to measure those distances, unless they just made the 'poles' up and sloped off to the pub which sounds a much more sensible idea. Who's going to check?)
MIlestone at the Lower Ferry, Kingswear, Devon.
There's been a ferry crossing between Kingswear and Dartmouth since the early 1700's but this milestone is thought to date to the early 19th century. It stands at the top of the short slope down to the ferry and marks the start of the old Dartmouth to Torquay Turnpike Trust. It can just be seen in my previous posting, on the corner of the wall where the roads divide.
It is unusual in having the distances in miles, furlongs and poles, (the M F P carved above the numbers) the latter two now mostly defunct forms of measurements.
I think 40 poles = 1 furlong and 8 furlongs = 1 mile...but that makes no sense on what is carved on the post?!
(Forget that last remark. I've just twigged those are the exact measurements and not alternatives. Doh! Someone went to a lot of effort to measure those distances, unless they just made the 'poles' up and sloped off to the pub which sounds a much more sensible idea. Who's going to check?)