STONES
A mark every mile
From 1767 mileposts were compulsory on all turnpikes, to show direction and distance and to help coaches keep to schedule.
Date a markerLook along an old main road and you may spot one.
A short stone or iron post on the verge, often weathered, sometimes painted. Milestones told coach travellers how far they had come, kept coaches to time and set the price of changing horses and sending letters. Around 9,000 are thought to survive in the UK.
- Roman roots
- Turnpike boom
- Iron and stone
- Two thousand years of roadside distance
THE SHORT ANSWER
Most date from
the turnpike roads.
Turnpike trusts ran toll roads from 1706 to the 1840s.
From 1767 they had to mark the miles.
TOLLS
Pay to use the road
Turnpike trusts of local business people and landowners raised money to improve roads and charged tolls. The name comes from the pole barrier at the toll point.
See the numbers
COACHES
Timing and postage
Distances were used at coaching inns for charging for changes of horses, and to work out postal charges before the uniform rate of 1840.
Find one
FOUR WAYS TO FIND ONE
Maps first,
then the verge.
Milestones still sit on many old coaching routes. A map and a slow walk are all you need.
Look for MS and MP
Ordnance Survey maps mark a milestone as MS and a milepost as MP.
Follow the old main roads
Surviving stones cluster along former turnpikes, such as the old roads between London and Cambridge.
Read the inscription
Many give a distance to a town, such as 60 miles from London, and sometimes the name of the place.
Check if it is listed
Many milestones are on the National Heritage List for England, often at Grade II, with a description of their date and design.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
Once everywhere,
now worth spotting.
One figure from the turnpike peak,
one on what is left today.
20,000 miles
Miles of road with milestones at the height of the turnpikes
Before turnpikes, the 400 miles from London to Edinburgh took 16 days. Trusts improved roads and, at their height, milestones lined 20,000 miles of them.
PEAK · THE MILESTONE SOCIETY
≈ 9,000
Milestones thought to survive in the UK
Most were removed or defaced in the Second World War to baffle potential invaders, and not all were put back. Others have been lost to road widening, collisions and hedge-cutters.
SURVIVORS · THE MILESTONE SOCIETY
From the 1840s, rail travel overtook the roads for longer journeys and many turnpike trusts were wound up. In 1888 the new county councils took over main roads.
DATE A MARKER
Which kind
have you found?
Pick a type of waymarker to see roughly when it comes from and who put it there. The bar shows how old the type is.
Based on The Milestone Society, Historic England's listing for a Great Staughton milestone and The Hundred Parishes milestone article.
WHY THEY MATTER
Small stones,
big history.
Historic England calls milestones one of the most widespread forms of street furniture, and lists them as illustrations of how England's transport network developed. They became prevalent in the mid-1700s, when turnpike trusts were encouraged to provide them.
Roadside milestones now fall to the local highways authority, or to the national roads agencies on trunk roads. In some places a milestone took on a new life: the 32nd milestone north of Stansted marked the start or finish of cycling time trials for much of the 20th century.
In conversation
Questions people ask
How long is a mile on an old milestone?
The British standard mile became 1,760 yards, but the Milestone Society notes that 'long' miles also existed into the 19th century. The Roman mile was about 1,618 yards.
Why were milestones put up?
To tell travellers the direction and distance, to help coaches keep to schedule, to charge for changes of horses at coaching inns and, before 1840, to calculate postal charges.
When did milestones become compulsory?
From 1767 mileposts were compulsory on all turnpike roads, though many were in place before then.
Why are some milestones missing?
Most were removed or defaced in the Second World War so they could not help potential invaders, and not all were replaced. Others were lost to road widening, collisions and hedge-cutting.
Who looks after milestones today?
Usually the local highways or roads authority, or the national agencies for trunk roads. Many are also protected as listed structures.
Sources
Each figure on this page comes from the sources below.