Stage post to west of aqueduct

Description Stage post to west of aqueduct

Date 31/7/2001

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number E 5904 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 691366

Scope and Content Stage post, Avon Aqueduct Milestone, Union Canal, Falkirk This shows a stage post to the west of Avon Aqueduct, built between 1818 and 1822, which was designed by Baird with advice from Thomas Telford. This dressed stone pillar is just over 1m high. It is inscribed 'betwixt third and fourth stages' which indicates the division between two sections of the canal. Part of a milestone can be seen on the right. This is one of only four stage posts on the canal and is the last in the westward direction. The missing top of this post was probably rounded with 'division' incised on to it. Milestones remain relatively common in some places; there was one every half-mile indicating the distances to Falkirk and Edinburgh. The government authorised the construction of the Union Canal in 1817 and appointed Hugh Baird (1770-1827) as the chief engineer. The main purpose of the canal was to provide an economical route for the transportation of coal and lime between Edinburgh and Glasgow via the Forth & Clyde Canal (1768-90). The 51km-long canal was opened in 1822 at a cost of £461,760, almost double the estimate, and it ran from Lock 16 at Camelon, Falkirk to Fountainbridge, Edinburgh. Except where the two canals are joined at Falkirk, the canal was built with no locks because it followed the contours of the hills. The Union Canal was closed in 1965, two years after the Forth & Clyde Canal, and the construction of new roads meant that it was impossible for boats to travel along the full length of these watercourses. However, the £84.5m Millennium Link project enabled both canals to reopen in 2002. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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