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Union Canal, East Hermiston Milestone
Milestone (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Union Canal, East Hermiston Milestone
Classification Milestone (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 95720
Site Number NT17SE 81.01
NGR NT 18528 70638
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/95720
- Council Edinburgh, City Of
- Parish Currie
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District City Of Edinburgh
- Former County Midlothian
NT17SE 81.01 1853 7062
This milestone, situated on the N bank of the Union Canal is set diagonally to the canal; it has a pyramidal top and inscribed numerals 26 and 5 on its SW and SE faces (providing mileages from the Camelon and Edinburgh termini, respectively). (cf NS97NE 62.04)
Visited by RCAHMS (MH) December 1978
This milestone is clearly marked on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1989) but is not shown on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Edinburghshire 1853, sheet 5) or on the OS 1:10000 raster map (ND).
Information from RCAHMS (MD) 8 February 2001.
Field Visit (29 September 2011)
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 immediately E of the modern aquaduct over the A720 public road on the SW side 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 0.68m in height above a square foot (0.33m sq) just visible above the verge and bears an incised ‘26½’, the distance in miles to Falkirk, on its SW face, and ‘5’, the distance to the eastern terminus at Lochrin Basin, on its SE face.
Visited by RCAHMS (JRS, ARG) 29 September 2011.
