The Southborough milestone today.
Our thanks to member, Jo Carlill, who has contributed this article.
There is a lovely example of a 19th century milestone in Southborough, just up from The Hand & Sceptre on the eastern side of London Road. It is usually hidden amongst the undergrowth, roughly opposite the junction with Church Road, although it has recently been easy to find as the grass burying it has been cut back. The milestone shows a metal plate attached to a stone post. It marks LONDON 33 TUNBRIDGE 3. (Until the mid-1800s, Tonbridge was regularly spelt ‘Tun…’. By the 1870s it was more commonly spelt ‘Ton…’ but it wasn’t officially changed to Tonbridge until 1893). I wonder how often the word milestone is used without stopping to think of its origins?
Here is a dictionary definition:
Milestone: noun 1. A stone by the side of the road that shows how far it is to the next town, and to other places 2. A very important stage or event in the development of something.
In days gone by, these markers would have informed travellers of distances covered on a journey and the distance remaining. They also reassured them that they were on the correct road. An inscribed milestone pillar in Frant, displaying 2 MILES TO T.WELLS, can be seen in George Smart’s picture Old Bright, The Postman of c1830s (below).
Old Bright, The Postman by George Smart, c.1830s. ©Tunbridge Wells Borough Council t/a The Amelia.
According to the Milestone Society, the need to record distance on important roads goes back to Roman times when every 1000 double steps was recorded with a tall cylindrical stone at the side of the road. The distance marked was 1618 yards, close to the modern mile of 1760 yards. The Latin for thousand was mille. With the advent of the turnpike road in the 18th century, these milestones became compulsory on all major roads. They are marked on early maps as ‘MS’ for milestone or ‘MP’ for milepost and come in a multitude of shapes and decorative styles. Their existence is still recorded on modern Ordnance Survey maps by the initials ‘MS’.
You can also see the miles clearly marked on Hasted’s Hundred of Wachlingstone map of 1778, marking the distance from London. There is a 31M marker in Tunbridge (Tonbridge) at the bottom of Quarry Hill, just south of the road to Hayesden and the 32M marker can be seen further up Quarry Hill just before the road to Bidborough. Interestingly, the current Ordnance Survey map for this area, still marks the position of the 32M milestone (MS) on the eastern side of the A21, just north of the turning to Mabledon Farm. The stone is still there in the undergrowth. The current map does not mark the milestone by the Common.
Hasted’s map of 1778.
The 33M marker is on Hasted’s separate map showing the Lowy of Tunbridge (next image below). Here the miles have been measured to a point opposite what was once Stemps Farm ( now known as The Weavers). According to the Milestone Society, the Southborough milestone at the top of the Common was erected by the Tonbridge Turnpike Trust in the 19th century, so either the 18th century cartographer mistakenly marked it to the north of the wrong area of ‘green’, or perhaps the marker was moved half a mile north, as the road surface to London was improved and the route made more direct. The 33M point would have been a useful staging post close to a coaching inn, The Hand and Sceptre, and opposite the Common.
Hasted’s map showing 33M marker.
Until a few years ago, a sign denoting the Ostler’s post, where he would have waited to take charge of a horse which needed resting, was clearly visible on the wall of the Hand and Sceptre. The road here used to be wider and the remains of a brick pavement and/or edging is still just visible, in the grass on the western side of the road, where the horses used to wait.
The 1820s and 30s were considered to be the ‘Golden Age of Coaching’ with Turnpike Trusts being responsible for about 20,000 miles of roads in England and Wales. The demise of the “Golden Age” only came about with the arrival of the railway.
Examples of tolls charged at East Grinstead in 1784 were recorded as follows:
• For every Horse, Mule or Ass, laden or unladen, and not drawing 1d
• For every Chaise, or other such like Carriage, drawn by One Horse only 2d
• For every Coach, Chariot, Landau, Berlin, Hearse, Chaise, Calash or other such like Carriage, drawn by Two or more Horses 6d
• For every Cart, Dray or other such like Carriage 2d (Source: The Turnpike Roads of Ashdown Forest by Martin Berry).
According to the Milestone Society ‘Milestone’ is “a generic term, including mileposts made of cast iron. From 1767, mileposts were compulsory on all turnpike roads, not only to inform travellers of direction and distances, but to help coaches keep to schedule and for charging for changes of horses at the coaching inns. The distances were also used to calculate postal charges before the uniform postal rate was introduced in 1840. At the height of the turnpike era, there were 20,000 miles of roads with milestones.
Such way-markers are fast disappearing; around 9,000 are thought to survive in the UK. Most were removed or defaced in World War II to baffle potential German invaders and not all were replaced afterwards. Many have been demolished as roads have been widened or have been victims of collision damage.”
The Southborough milestone has been recorded by Kent County Council as a ‘non-designated heritage asset’. So, whilst it does not have listed or protected status, it has at least been noted as an object of historical interest. The grass verge, on which it is sited, is privately owned. Perhaps, next time you celebrate a milestone birthday or pass the Southborough milestone, you can remember the origins of the word and the important role this humble little way-marker once played for anyone travelling through the ‘south borough’ of what was then known as Tunbridge.
