Allt Dubh
Milestone (19th Century)
Site Name Allt Dubh
Classification Milestone (19th Century)
Canmore ID 295074
Site Number NC37SW 1
NGR NC 30658 71352
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/295074
- Council Highland
- Parish Durness
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Sutherland
- Former County Sutherland
Field Visit (2008)
NC37SW 1 30658 71352
This milestone is situated in peaty moorland on the N side of the public road (NC37SW 26) from the Kyle of Durness (NC 3708 6603) to the lighthouse at Cape Wrath (NC27SE 3.00). Rectangular in section, the roughly dressed granite block measures 0.3m in breadth by 0.21m in thickness and 0.35m in height, and it leans slightly to the W. The front face has been painted white and the incised number five, denoting the distance in miles to the lighthouse, has been painted black.
The exact date that the milestone was erected is not known, but it was probably soon after the road was adopted as a public highway in 1833 and it was certainly in place by 1874, when it was surveyed for the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Sutherland 1878, sheet I). A local tradition that the milestones along the 11 mile length of the road were fabricated by lighthouse keepers cannot be substantiated, but it would provide an explanation why there is a variation in their respective designs and dimensions.
(CWTC08 191)
Visited by RCAHMS (AL, IP) 11 August 2008.
