The Act of Parliament permitting the construction of a 127-mile canal that would go all the way between Leeds and Liverpool was passed in 1770, and the first stretch of canal linking Skipton to Bingley was opened in 1773. The canal was gradually extended over the next 43 years until the final section, the Wigan flight, was opened on the 22 October 1816 and Leeds and Liverpool were finally linked.
Milepost at the start of the canal
The canal was originally marked with stone mileposts, though these only extended from Leeds to Johnson’s Hillock at Chorley, and from Aspull near Wigan Top Lock to Liverpool (the length in between actually being the Lancaster Canal). One or two of these survive, though with no surviving markings, in the Wigan area.
The existing cast iron mileposts date the 1890s. They were installed as a response to legislation introduced to regulate canal freight tolls – the Railway and Canal Rates, Tolls and Charges Order of 1893. This prompted the whole of the canal to be re-surveyed and new mileposts, along with half and quarter mileposts, installed along the towpaths.
200 years later the mileposts had become damaged and approximately a third of the original 127 were missing altogether. In 2003 the British Waterways Board (now the Canal and Rivers Trust) sponsored a programme to clean and paint the mileposts between Bingley and Gargrave, and cut back the vegetation. A survey then found that nearly 25% of the posts were missing and that only one milepost was complete.
And so to celebrate the bi-centenary of the completion of the canal the EveryMileCounts Project was established, aiming to restore all of the mileposts, replacing those that were missing, repairing those that were damaged, or simply cleaning and repainting those that were intact – and to do as much of this as possible with the help of the communities that live along the canal.
All the mile-markers are now in situ, about 20 of the 33 missing half-mile plates have been re-instated, though the 85 missing quarter-mile plates are still absent.
Adapted mainly from an item by Bill Froggatt, Heritage Adviser for the Canal and Rivers Trust, in the Milestone Society Newsletter, Feb 2016, no 30, p 27, and talks by him to the Northern Spring Meetings, 2016 and 2023.
Decorated gate-posts with abstract patterns can be found all over Yorkshire, but Abraham Hirst of Elland took this one step further in the middle of the 19th century.
Gatepost on Blackley Road
Hullen Edge is an area of Elland in West Yorkshire, deriving its name from holly bushes, which were presumably more common there once upon a time. Its Hall, originally built in the 15th century and belonging to a branch of the omnipotent Savile family, was rebuilt twice in the 19th century and none of the original remained. The park of the same name, part of the estate, was given to the people of Elland in 1887. The adjacent cricket ground was, in June 1878, the site of a three-day match between the first Australian touring side and an 18-man team from Elland. The Australians scored 90 and 85, their opponents 29 and 66, and won by 80 runs.
In the 1850s it (and its nearly 150 surrounding acres) was occupied by Abraham Hirst (1790-1864), a rich woollen merchant from Huddersfield. Unmarried, his next of kin was a spinster niece, and the property was sold on his death.
Abraham left his mark on the estate with the name Hullen Edge on several stones and gateposts to denote the boundary of his property. They bear different dates, 1847, 1854, 1859 and 1862, and some also have his initials, AH. They can be found on the roads (or tracks) to Rawroyds, Holywell Brook and Blackley.
Sources: Albert Rinder: A history of Elland (1987); www.ellandcc.co.uk/about-ellandcc.asp; www.calderdalecompanion.co.uk
An Act of Parliament was passed in 1758 for the building of a navigable waterway to connect Wakefield with Sowerby Bridge. This was ultimately to connect the North Sea with the Irish Sea: the Aire And Calder Navigation had reached Wakefield in 1702 – from Goole on the River Ouse. From Sowerby Bridge it was to connect via the Rochdale Canal to Manchester, though this was not completed until 1804. From Manchester the Irish Sea had been accessible via the Bridgewater Canal since 1761.
The Calder & Hebble reached Sowerby Bridge in 1770; it was part canal and part river, 22 miles long and with 28 locks at the time it was built. There was a short branch into Dewsbury and a longer one up to Halifax by the side of the Hebble Brook – hence the name. The Huddersfield Broad Canal was started in 1774, leaving the Calder & Hebble at Cooper Bridge.
Along its course the navigation has a number of interesting remains that are not always unique but certainly characteristic of the waterway:
Milestones – The navigation started at Fall Ing Lock in Wakefield. (Fall Ing was a small suburb south-east of the city). Accordingly, all the milestones recorded the distance as “From Fall Ing … miles”. Approximately ten still exist, with particularly good examples at Salterhebble and Battyeford.
Quarter-mile stone
Half-mile and quarter-mile stones – Only a handful of these remain, including a half-mile stone found at Brookfoot and a quarter-mile stone at Thornhill Junction. The idea of half- and quarter-mile stones was imitated by the later Leeds-Liverpool Canal where many still survive although in a metal format painted white. They were probably to help with working out haulage charges.
Lock markers – Several of these can still be found; their purpose is simply to make boatmen aware of the proximity of locks. A 100 yards example can be found at Brookfoot near Brighouse whilst a 300 yards example can be found at Kirklees Lock.
Railway company stone markers – As the canal boom was relatively short-lived due to the introduction of the railways, a number of canal companies ended up in financial difficulties and were sold to railway companies. These often continued to use the canals, particularly for bulky materials, into the 20th century. A number exist along the Kirklees Cut a couple of miles east of Brighouse. The initials stand for Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. The stones probably marked the extent of land ownership beyond the towpath.
Lock-marker near Salterhebble
Towpath bridges – Horses were the only source of power until the mid-19th Century (and continued to be used well into the 20th). Where the towpath changed sides of the navigation (usually where canal and river met), a way had to be found to allow the horse to continue pulling the vessel without unhitching. This was achieved by the ‘turnover bridge’ which used to exist at Mirfield, Cooper Bridge, Brighouse and Elland. All these are long gone but a good example can still be found at Battyeford where the canal reaches the river.
Lock-keepers cottages – Many locks had cottages for the lock-keeper and fortunately a number still survive. A good example can be found at Salterhebble – pictured at top.
An edited version of an article by David Garside in the Milestone Society Newsletter, Jul 2013, no 25, pp 26-27.
In mediæval times, bridge chapels served an important function as wayside chapels for pilgrims. Mediæval bridges were often the only way of leaving a town or city to venture into the countryside across the farthest bank and, as many towns were established across rivers, they must have been plentiful. But did they also serve another purpose?
The authors of a guidebook to the bridge chapel at Derby* clearly think so. They state ‘Bridge chapels served a number of purposes. They were places where travellers leaving the relative safety of a town would call to pray and receive a blessing before setting out on a possibly dangerous journey through the countryside beyond. Others, about to enter a town, might have paused to offer thanks for a safe arrival. Tolls, for the upkeep of the associated bridges, would have been levied on incoming goods and animals.’ They go on to state ‘It was customary in those days for the daily upkeep of the chapel to be the responsibility of a so-called hermit, appointed by the bishop. The hermit, who lived in the chapel, was also responsible for the collection of tolls.’
So there we have it. As tolls were extracted for the upkeep of the bridge, perhaps the bridge itself belonged to the church? But why are there so few bridge chapels left in England? With the coming of the Reformation, such chapels fell out of favour and by 1547 all had been closed. The subsequent arrival of industrialization and the turnpike era rendered mediæval bridges too narrow for traffic so many chapels, now redundant, would have been demolished.
It is fortunate that a few bridge chapels still exist, and two of them are in Yorkshire, at Wakefield and Rotherham.
Wakefield’s old bridge and chapel
Wakefield was an important town in mediæval times. The lovely little bridge chapel built around 1350 sits on the old bridge over the River Calder. It is the best bridge chapel we have despite its west front having been faithfully rebuilt by George Gilbert Scott in 1847. Another reference to toll collecting comes from 1342 when toll rights were granted to the bridge, eight years before the chapel was erected and 15 years before the chapel licence was granted.
The bridge chapel at Rotherham, although similar in style to the one at Wakefield, is well over a hundred years younger. It was heavily restored in 1924. The bridge itself, although mediæval, was widened in the 18th century and narrowed back to its original width in the 20th. It is a miracle that the chapel survived the original widening. Both Wakefield and Rotherham chapels are rectangular with typical ecclesiastical features.
Other bridge chapels are at Cromford (Derbyshire), Derby, St Ives (Cambridgeshire – pictured at top), Bradford-on-Avon (Wiltshire) and Rochester (Kent). Spare a thought for those early pilgrims, having to pay tolls to fulfil their religious desires.
* Robert Innes-Smith: The Chapel of St. Mary on the Bridge, Derby (Derbyshire Countryside, 1987)
A longer version of this article by John Higgins appeared in Milestone Society Newsletter, August 2016, no 31, pp 21-22.
How about standing on a corner and seeing five milestones without moving? You can in Yorkshire. Visit Pool Bank, north of Leeds, at the junction of the A660 ‘new’ Leeds to Otley road with the A658 Bradford to Harrogate road and the Dudley Hill to Killinghall turnpike in Bramhope Parish.
In Bramhope and Adel parishes there are at least ten ‘tombstones’ with numerous places listed including Adel Brickyard and several churches and bridges. The distances are given in miles and furlongs. On one of these stones, a few yards north west of the traffic lights, Otley, Burley, Ilkley, Addingham and Bramhope churches are inscribed, together with Adel School, Woodhouse Moor and Leeds Bridge. On the other side of the road about 100 yards away is a triangular cast iron post, one of five on the A660, showing Leeds 8, Otley 2½ and London 194¼.
Now look up the A658. Immediately on the left is a ‘Bramhope’ stone with nine places inscribed although some of the distances are erased or eroded. Then there is a mounting block type complete with metal plate and hands pointing To Bradford 9, To Harrogate 10 – pictured below . There are four more of these left between here and Bradford but none with plates.
A little further up is the third and youngest stone belonging to the Dudley Hill, Killinghall and Harrogate Turnpike of 1758. Dudley Hill is to the south east of Bradford and Killinghall is to the north of Harrogate. Riding from Dudley Hill you are soon on Killinghall Road although the end is 23 miles away. There are none of these 19th century stones with protruding metal attachments nearer to Bradford but there are ten complete and one broken one on the B6161 to Killinghall with one on the B6162 Harrogate branch.
Christine Minto
Reprinted from Milestone Society Newsletter, July 2004, no 7
Standing on the western side of the Pennine watershed, the area of Saddleworth belonged (and belongs)historically to the West Riding of Yorkshire. Though part of the ancient parish of Rochdale, and transferred to Oldham in Greater Manchester for administrative purposes in 1974, it is still defiantly Yorkshire in spirit.
With a confusing pattern of subdivisions and boundaries, it is hardly surprising that there is a wealth of boundary stones to be found in the district. They are of two types: firstly there are markers to denote where the township met surrounding townships, and secondly there are internal boundary markers, for it was never, until 1937, one unified administrative area.
no 2
Following the Norman Conquest it became a part of the Honour of Pontefract, and was divided into four quarters or ‘Meres’ (the word simply means ‘boundary’): Friarmere, Shawmere, Lordsmere and Quickmere. Confusingly the whole district was also once knownsimply as ‘Quick’. The Meres were further subdivided, into Divisions. To complicate matters further, in the 19th century with reforms of local government and the creation of Urban and Rural Sanitary Districts (later Urban and Rural District Councils), Saddleworth appears to have had three units: Springhead Urban District (originally established in 1864 and called Quickmere Middle, though it also included the Upper Division); Uppermill Urban (Sanitary) District (formed in 1868, a small area covering just Uppermill, the largest settlement in the district – on the western edge of Lordsmere); and Saddleworth Rural (Sanitary) District (formed in 1876, and presumably covering the remainder of the district). In 1900 Uppermill and the Rural District were combined to form Saddleworth Urban District, and in 1937 Springhead UD was absorbed into it.
no 3
The Meres had by then ceased to have any official role, although the names survive on some of the milestones erected by the County Council in the 1890s. The present-day settlements grew long after the mere boundaries were fixed, but the following lists indicate what was where.
Friarmere belonged to Roche Abbey – hence the name; it had two poetically named divisions:
Dark Side, the most northerly part of the district, including Denshaw and down as far as the outskirts of Delph;
Light Side, including Castleshaw.
Lordsmere, the eastern, and by far the largest, part of the district, including Diggle, Delph, Dobcross, Uppermill, part of Greenfield, and Saddleworth Moor. This was directly controlled by the Lord of the Manor. Boundary stones indicate it had three divisions (Upper, Middle and Lower), though these are not shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey maps.
no 4
Quickmere, in the south-west, had three Divisions; from north to south these were:
Upper, a small very sparsely populated area;
Middle, including Scouthead, Austerlands, Springhead, Grotton, Lydgate and Grasscroft;
Lower, the area also known as Quick; the Lower Division was transferred to the newly created Borough of Mossley in 1885.
Shawmere, a small district based on Shaw Hall, between Quickmere and Lordsmere, had two divisions:
no 5
Upper, a sparsely populated area between Scouthead and Dobcross;
Lower, including Shaw Hall and part of Greenfield.
Saddleworth had borders with 11 other townships. They are listed here, clockwise from the north, with details of some of the boundary stones to be found:
in Yorkshire:
Marsden-in-Huddersfield: no 1, on the A640 Huddersfield – New Hey road; presumably erected by the Marsden township as it says only MH on one side with no evidence of an S on the other. A series of mounds then follows the boundary south over the moors, past the Standedge crossing, and through …
no 6
Marsden-in-Almondbury, with more mounds;
Austonley: a short section on the highest part of the A635 (the Greenfield – Shepley Lane Head road) as it crosses the notorious Saddleworth Moor: no 2.
Upperthong: no 3 (photo by David Garside) is half-a-mile south of no 2 on Dean Head Moss, where the boundary line takes a 90o turn. It has S on one side and H on the other: the H is for Holmfirth, so this must have been erected after 1894 when Upperthong was merged with other townships into the new Holmfirth Urban District.
in Cheshire (though transferred to Derbyshire in 1974):
Woodhead and Crowden: two hamlets in Tintwistle township; mounds
no 7
Tintwistle: more mounds.
in Lancashire:
Mossley (part of which was once actually in Cheshire): in 1885 the newly-created Mossley Borough erected boundary stones on all the roads leading into the Borough, all of which were defaced in World War Two to confuse any invaders. At least seven of these survive, including five on the roads into Saddleworth – the A6050, A670, A635, B6175 and the unclassified Under Road. They were most informative, even providing the name of the Hundred (Salford) in which Mossley was situated – but ignoring the detail on the West Riding side. The one pictured (no 4) is on the A670.
Hartshead and Alt: two small townships: no boundary stones traced;
no 8
Lees, a narrow township on the A 669, but with a small piece just crossing over the A62: there are two stones on the A62 at Austerlands, erected by the Springhead UD. Going towards Oldham the road enters Lancashire – the stone here mentions Lancashire, but doesn’t bother to mention Lees, which is why we assume it was Springhead who put it up – but after a couple hundred yards re-enters Yorkshire for a very short distance (no 5, which does mention Lees).
Crompton (with its main town Shaw): at Grains Bar on the A672 a stone marks the boundary between Crompton and Friarmere (no 6). The county names, Lancashire and Yorkshire, are on the left- and right-hand sides.
Milnrow: where the A640 New Hey Road (whose other end went through Marsden) leaves Saddleworth (Friarmere again) is a final boundary stone (no 7); this one also names the counties on the sides. The Milnrow Local Board was created only in 1870, before which it was part of an ancient township called Butterworth
no 9
The similarity in style of nos 6 and 7 suggests that they were erected by the Friarmere township, presumably sometime between 1870 and 1894 when Local Boards became Urban District Councils.
Then there are several stones marking the boundaries between the Meres, including their Divisions. These are two examples:
No 8: the boundary between the Middle Division of Lordsmere and the Upper Division of Shawmere; this is on the A62 at Delph, opposite the Old Bell Inn.
No 9: the boundary between the Lower Division of Lordsmere and the Lower Division of Shawmere: this is on the A689 at Greenfield. Interestingly, the carver was obviously confused here as well, as ‘Lords’ had to be re-carved over something else.
no 10
And finally there are examples of the boundaries of the later local authorities. As well as the Springhead UD stones noted above (no 5), there are two stones marking Springhead’s boundary with Saddleworth UD, so dateable to post-1900 when the latter was created. No 10 is on the A669 beyond Grasscroft, the last settlement in Quickmere.
Meanwhile at the northern and southern ends of Uppermill on the A672 are two stones marked simply A ULB BOUNDARY (to the south) and B ULB BOUNDARY (to the north) – put up by the Uppermill Local Board (no 11).
Sources: An article by David Garside in the Milestone Society Newsletter, Jan 2014, no 26, pp 26-27; articles by Mike Buckley on the four Meres in Saddleworth White Rose Society Newsletters, 2009-2010, nos 45 and 46; www.visionofbritain.org.uk; the catalogues of the National Archives at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk; old Ordnance Survey maps at https://maps.nls.uk.
This walk takes you from Brighouse to Sowerby Bridge, past milestones, lock and other markers, lock-keepers’ cottages, and 250 years of canal heritage.
Brighouse is accessible from all parts of West Yorkshire by bus and train, and there is an hourly service by train from Sowerby Bridge to return to Brighouse.
Click here for a pdf with full details of the walk, from the Milestone Society website.
The Rochdale Canal was the first navigable waterway to connect the Irish and North Seas, connecting Sowerby Bridge (the end of the Calder & Hebble Navigation which was reached in 1770) with the Bridgewater Canal in Manchester. It thus beat both the Huddersfield Narrow Canal (completed in 1811) and the Leeds-Liverpool Canal (1816). Although the process started in 1776, an Act of Parliament to allow work to start was not passed until 1794, and it was another ten years before the official opening of the whole canal.
Eight reservoirs had to be built to placate several mill-owners concerned about their water supply. It was a broad canal, 14 feet wide, running for 32 miles with, initially, 92 locks at first (now 91, locks three and four having been combined). Lock no 1 was in Sowerby Bridge, and lock 92 in Manchester. The canal quickly became the most successful commercial highway between Yorkshire and Lancashire, at its height moving almost 1 million tons of products each year. Railways caused a decline in traffic although the canal continued in commercial use until closed to traffic in 1952 with some sections filled-in. The Rochdale Canal Society was formed in 1974 to work to re-open it, and this finally happened in 2002.
The following features are still in place:
Stone canal company markers
A handful of these exist, inscribed RCCo, presumably marking the boundary of the canal company land adjacent to the canal. Examples are at Todmorden (pictured), Luddenden Foot and Mytholmroyd. The Mytholmroyd stone also has the letters ARSL, presumably the initials of the adjacent landowner.
Stone mile posts
Only two of the original stones still exist, at Todmorden and Summit. The Todmorden stone (pictured left) shows ten miles from S (Sowerby Bridge) and 22 from Manr. The Summit milestone reads simply ‘S 14 M 18’.
Metal mile posts
These are relatively new and have been introduced by the Rochdale Canal Trust (successor to the Society) to mark the re-opening of the canal. Attractive additions to the canalside scene, there are currently 13 in situ to the county boundary, some of which are more recent replacements. There is one in Todmorden about 50 metres from the original stone mile-post, and one in
Sowerby Bridge (no 0) marks the point where the canal connects with the Calder & Hebble Navigation. The one pictured on the right, no 12, is at Walsden, not far from the county boundary.
County boundary marker
Another relatively modern marker is at Warland where the canal crosses the Lancashire – Yorkshire border.
Adapted from an article by David Garside in the Milestone Society Newsletter, Jan 2014, no 26, pp 28-29
The original road from Otley in West Yorkshire to Leeds was turnpiked in 1755. From Otley it went up the steep road past the Chevin, through Carlton township, along what is now called Otley Old Road, becoming Cookridge Lane and turning back into Otley Old Road to the join the present A660 main Otley Road near the ring-road, and on through Headingley into Leeds. Before this a pre-turnpike road had taken a slightly more westerly line out of Leeds through Burley and what is now West Park. The 1755 road improved the line through Headingley.
Because of the steepness of the Chevin route a new line was proposed, and the present main road, the A660, was opened in 1842. This went north out of Leeds through Adel parish, including the township of Arthington: Between Adel and Bramhope it went through Breary Marsh: this was actually part of Arthington township connected by a narrow strip to the village. It then continued west through Bramhope and Pool into Otley.
Six milestones survive on the original route, presumably dating from the opening of the original turnpike in the middle of the 18th century. They are all of a distinctive mounting-block style, stone with destinations carved on the front and side. Most, however, are now badly weathered, or had their destinations erased as a precautionary measure during World War Two.
One of the new turnpike milestones (taken in 1972)
Five milestones erected by the Turnpike Trust on the new route still exist. They can be found at 1, 6, 7, 8 and 9 miles from Leeds. They were left in position when the West Riding County Council carried out their milestone replacement programme in the 1890s, presumably because they were relatively new, dating from no earlier than 1842. They are similar in design to the later WRCC ones: a triangular iron plate attached to the stone. Unusually, however, at the top where the WRCC milestones (and others in a similar style) give the road or turnpike name, these give the distance to London. From the last surviving in the series, nine miles from Leeds and 1½ from Otley, we are told that it is 195¼ miles to London.
There is another set of mileposts along this road which are extremely interesting, and unique in the county. They are referred to as mileposts, though more exactly they are guide-stones, listing anything up to 11 nearby (usually) locations. The places named are rarely towns and villages, but tend to be individual buildings, especially churches. Distances are given in miles and furlongs, but the stones do not appear to indicate directions. W F Seals’ History of Bramhope (1976) says they were put up in 1850, which would tally with the 1849 opening of stations at Arthington and Horsforth (Carr Bridge), which are among the destinations listed. A separate article on these is available here.
One other stone deserves a mention. It is in Alwoodley township, so not technically on the Otley-Leeds route. On King Lane, half-surrounded by houses is a relic of the days when this was in the middle of nowhere: a guide-stone directing travellers south to Leeds and north to Otley, presumably erected in response to the County Justices requirements at the end of the 17th century.
Dotted around the country, with several also in Yorkshire, are mileposts best described as obelisks. Many date from the second half of the 18th century. This was before “Egyptomania” took hold in the early 19th century: inspired by Napoleon, a growing number of artefacts came to England – such as the two obelisks brought back to Kingston Lacey in Dorset in the 1820s.
Typical is the famous one at Craven Arms in Shropshire, one of the tallest in the country, showing mileages to 36 towns and cities ranging from Edinburgh to Plymouth.
They were usually erected by local landowners, and contrasted with the stoops put up by parish and township surveyors – in size and in the quality of the materials and craftsmanship. The names of neighbouring towns are usually high up, so as to be easily seen by those on horseback.
Three examples can be found on the A628 in Ackworth, south-east of Wakefield.
The first, standing at a junction outside Ackworth School is the most elaborate. It comprises a hexagonal column, dated 1805, on top of which is a triangular stone with directions, topped by an urn. Although the direction-stone is triangular, and it’s a three-way junction, the directions do not follow the standard pattern. It has an obvious front, facing the school, with fingers pointing left, to Pontefract, and right, to Hemsworth (both three miles). The two other faces both point in the same direction down the minor road, originally Low Ackworth Lane, now Station Road (though sadly the station closed long ago). It has directions and pointing fingers to East Hardwick (3) and Snaith (15) on one side, and Went Bridge (3) and Doncaster (13) on the other. Carved above these, on the urn, is the name Low Ackworth. A traveller hoping to get to Snaith (historically in the West Riding but now in East Yorkshire) would have needed a lot more guide-posts to reach it through the maze of narrow lanes leading there. (Pictured right)
The urn is a recent addition, following a refurbishment of the obelisk in 2016. Before that it had an ornamental wrought iron stand carrying three lamps, and before that it was originally topped by a round ball or globe – as still seen on the third one.
This is similar to the one outside the school, though less elaborate: less rusticated, a plain hexagonal column, and at the top a ball or globe. Standing in a traffic island at the junction of Pontefract Road and Long Lane, and again a three-way junction, the directions, with pointing hands, are shown in a more logical way. Facing the main road it points to Pontefract (left) and Barnsley (right). The other two sides have directions to York and Darrington, and East Hardwick, and Sheffield (detail pictured at bottom). Under the front is simply the name Ackworth (this is more exactly High Ackworth) and the date 1827.
The third is a different type, and not technically a milepost, as it does not show distances. It is at the corner of Bell Lane, opposite Ackworth Moor Top Quarry, where the stone probably came from, just north of the junction with the Wakefield-Doncaster road. It has a plain undated phallic design, and shows directions to Hemsworth and Sheffield on one side, and Wragby and Wakefield (up Bell Lane) on the other. Described simply as a stone post on the earliest Ordnance Survey map, the directions named do not tally exactly with the post’s present position. (Pictured left)
All three are too elaborate, and late, for the usual guide-stoops required by the County Justices at the beginning of the 18th century. The first two are later than the foundation of the school (1779), and earlier than the Barnsley and Pontefract Turnpike of the 1830s. According to J L Saywell in his ‘Parochial history of Ackworth’ of 1894: “To a stranger they possess a commemorative or memorial appearance, but in reality they were erected by the Lords of the Manor, as combination guide- and distance-stones”. He also noted that a lamp surmounted the globe. He does not, however, mention the other (Bell Lane) obelisk, and we do not know when that was erected.
