Milestones, Boundary Markers, Historical Artifacts, Street Furniture, lost roads and buildings.

There are many traces of our ancestors scattered around our landscape. Mile Markers and Boundary stones are there too. The Milestone Society believes that there are approximately 9000 left in the United Kingdom. Some are cherished but others are hidden in hedgerows, some have been unwittingly destroyed by crashes, road equipment or even stolen. Roads have been straightened to make them safer. There are old gateposts still left in place, old buildings, and place names that declare an evocative past. The aim is to capture some of this information at least photographically before it disappears.

Although the Fylde Coast does not have ancient history, the Romans apparently struggled to Kirkham. There have been huge changes in the last two centuries from literally a a few fishermans' and agricultural dwellings, to a full blown tourist and light engineering industry.

More historical information can be found here about the Fylde coast.

It also seems that time has marched on and left what appears to be some very respectable buildings... which just should be used, but seem to have no worth.

Links from this Blog

Nearly-Midnight The genealogy website relating to the family. A tangled web of people all related to one another, explore!
Memorials Website dedicated to War Memorials - The majority in the North of England. Visits to churches, but also memorials in out of the way places.
Robert Clark The Father of Henry Martyn-Clark - A missionary out in the North-West Frontier of India. One of the first Europeans to set foot in Afganistan
Affetside Census
A small village north of Bury, Lancashire, I can trace many of my immediate ancesters from there. On the Roman Road, Watling Street
Andrew Martyn-Clark My Father and his part in my World. Also my mother and his parents too.
Henry Martyn-Clark My Great Grandfather, his roots and his achievements. Discusses malaria but also his confrontations with Islam.

Saturday 8 December 2012

Milestone on the B5192

Pictures of a very substantial milestone. This is very large, made of concrete, and cemented to someone's wall. It is also halfway up the rise of the "back" road into Kirkham. About 250 yards from the Dowbridge on the right hand side, opposite Glebe Lane. This milestone is documented on the Milestone Society database.
Half a mile from the Dowbridge cross .

Here are the Pictures:
Preston
7 3/4  Miles

Kirkham

I think it says?
Kirkham
?/? Mile? (possibly 3/4 - that would be about right)
Blackpool
10 Miles


It is steep, but not quite as steep as the photo suggests.
Holding the wall up!

Not sure about this. On the opposite side of the road
and considerably smaller than any of the chunky stone milestones locally.


Dowbridge Cross at Kirkham

This excerpt comes from here: www.lancashire.gov.uk/.../KirkhamComplete_LowRes.pdf 

 Dowbridge was known as Galebridge in the medieval period, and was one of four bridges taking roads into Kirkham. It is first mentioned around 1268 in a charter for Cockersands Abbey as Dalebrigehevet (Farrer 1898). It is called Dale Brigge in a lease for c1279 (LSMR 1374). The bridge is likely to have always been wooden, as it was still recorded as made of wood up to the mid-nineteenth century (OS 1847 1:10,560). There was also a cross in Dowbridge documented in 1558. It marked the end of the Abbey lands on the east side of Kirkham. The site is still marked by a modern Latin cross of stone 1.55 metres high (LSMR 1375). Tarnbrick Cross (LSMR 1636), mentioned in the same agreement, stood near Tarnbrick Farmhouse and marked the western end of Abbey Lands, and the Headless Cross marked the southern boundary (LSMR 1376).
These latter two crosses lay outside the defined urban area for Kirkham.

Barely visible, Half buried

Clearly a chip out of the top section.
It is more obvious when you view it close to

No surprise that I have driven past this cross several times,
it was summer last time when the grass was higher.
I even had the map reference!


All that's left are further comments: the cross seems to be completely ignored, whether there is a pedestal in there beneath the "new" Latin cross is difficult to know. The fact that some fairly new damage has been done does not bode well for the future. I feel that this artifact(parts of) that may well date back 500 years is of concern. There are road signs and clear road works close to it. The definition held by English Heritage no longer matches the description of this cross.
This is monument no 586927 at English Heritage.