Blink and you’ll miss it, but an 18th century milestone in Northumberland has been newly listed for its role in the defence of northern England against the Scots.
Now almost invisible against an old stone garden wall in a housing development at Heddon on the Wall, the one-metre-high sandstone pillar is inscribed with the number ‘7.’ It was erected between 1751 and 1757 as part of major investment in building the Military Road in response to the Second Jacobite Rising of 1745.
The rising was a significant threat to the monarchy by Bonnie Prince Charlie – Charles Edward Stewart, son and heir of James II. He had invaded from Scotland, seized Carlisle and was heading south in November without challenge because Field Marshall George Wade and his troops were stuck in Newcastle, hampered by poor roads and bad weather.
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Wade eventually left Newcastle for Carlisle but was forced to halt at Hexham by the condition of the roads and snow, and returned to Newcastle without having made contact with the Jacobite army. After the defeat of the Scots army at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, investment included the construction of the Military Road from Newcastle to Carlisle - now part of the B6318 and the B6528 - to allow troops to move swiftly from the Newcastle garrison to vulnerable points along the border.
The figure 7 on the milestone marks the seven mile distance from the West Gate at Newcastle and it also served as a mustering point for troops. The Historic England citation or the listing reads: “A rare, well-preserved, early example of a milestone sited in its original location, its simplicity being characteristic of its C18 date and military origins. It remains fully legible and unusually it only shows distances from one direction from Newcastle.
“The milestone is illustrative of a major military investment in the defences of the North of England in the mid-C18, in response to the Second Jacobite Rising of 1745.”
The route of the Military Road was surveyed in 1749, Following an Act of Parliament in 1751, construction work was contracted to two civilian companies, which completed the job in 1757. The first 48km follows the alignment of Hadrian’s Wall, with stone used for hardcore believed to have been taken from the monument itself.
The total cost of the road was £22,680, shared by the Cumberland and Northumberland commissioners, which included the purchase of land, dry stone boundary walling, stone bridges, the construction of 14 toll houses, erection of milestones along the length of the road.
Milestone 7 is sited in its original position on the southern verge of a minor road that was once part of the main A69 between Newcastle and Hexham, until the village was by-passed in the 1970s, and this section of road was closed to through traffic. It is within the Hadrian’s Wall world heritage site.
Heritage Minister, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, said: “Heritage sites tell the story of our country, boost tourism, and help us understand and take pride in where we live.”
Chief executive of Historic England, Duncan Wilson, said: “The variety of listings this year illustrates the rich diversity of our shared heritage. In England, 99% of us live less than a mile from a listed site.”
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