More than 1,200 milestones in Yorkshire and Humber will be accessible at the click of a mouse by the end of this month – part of a project to increase awareness and improve maintenance of traditional waymarkers. .
The Milestone Society has been awarded a £12,000 grant by ~English Heritage~ to set up a website recording all the surviving milestones in the region, complete with up-to-date photographs. .
More than 300 of them are listed buildings.
Visitors to the site will be able to click on a map to display information on each one. The grant is also helping pay for a good practice guide on milestone maintenance to be launched at a one-day conference in York on 18 May. .
National treasurer, Jan Scrine, said the society, had recorded 8,000 UK milestones since it was launched five years ago, and expected the total to reach 10,000. .
Mostly stone or cast-iron, they were at risk from chemical and road salt attack, careless verge and hedge-cutting, errant vehicles and vandalism. .
Accidental damage is frequently done by mechanical flails because milestones have become overgrown and invisible. .
‘What we ask highway authorities to do is cut around the stones so they are clearly visible, which also helps keep them dry and moss-free,’ said Scrine. Councils are encouraged to adopt the continental practice of using yellow marks on the road to highlight hidden milestones. .
The maintenance guidelines will recommend using micro-porous mineral paint to protect stonework, rather than short-lived limewash, and a breathing paint system such as tractor enamel on cast-iron waymarkers. .
A Department for Transport traffic advisory leaflet last summer urged authorities to retain and maintain milestones as part of an integrated approach to their highways and planning duties. .
~English Heritage~'s regional historic buildings inspector, Trevor Mitchell, said the new website would help raise the profile of milestones. .
‘Until now, too many have been literally passed by, and their contribution to our historic landscape not fully appreciated,’ he said. ‘They are a significant and beautiful aspect of our streets, roads and country lanes, and merit conservation and care.’ For details of the project and conference, contact Jan Scrine: 01484 455-484 yorkshiremilestones@ hotmail.co.uk www.yorkshire-milestones.co.uk.