Union Canal, Sighthill

The Union Canal, originally the Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal, was constructed (1818-22) to link the centre of Edinburgh (Lochrin Basin) to the Forth and Clyde Canal at Falkirk, a distance of 31½ miles (almost 51km). At half-mile intervals along its northern (towpath) side there were stone markers indicating the distances to Edinburgh and Falkirk. Many of the original stones still survive, though in varying states of preservation, and of those that are now missing many have modern replacements.

Nothing is now visible of the original milestone that stood at the S end of Sighthill, though there is a modern replacement in the form of a finely dressed sandstone block with a shallow pyramidal top. It measures 0.25m square by 0.6m in height and bears an incised ‘27½’, the distance in miles to Falkirk, on its SW face, and ‘4’, the distance to the eastern terminus at Lochrin Basin, on its SE face.

Visited by RCAHMS (JRS, ARG) 29 September 2011.