You know, there is a second possible place where such stones could show up besides where they were placed. I'm Swedish, we of course don't have Roman milestones but we do have runestones which are widely searched for. Those tend to show up in 2 places: In situ and built in the foundation of old churches. More then a few have been found when someone noticed runes on an old foundation. I have only heard of them being found in churches from the 18th century or older (and I only heard of 2 stones in that new churches, most found were in far older foundations). In any case, if there is an old nearby church near where an old milestone should be, it might be worth looking on it's foundation because it was not uncommon to just take any stone large enough and chuck it in the foundation when building the church, most of the runestones found this way was completely intact too. It is certainly a worthy project to try to find one of these stones. I don't doubt at least some of them existed but if they have fallen over and are covered by earth you basically need a GPR to find them, which both is expensive and pretty impractical to bring when you are hiking. Good luck. :)
I've heard of one found when a road was widened I'm shure that will be pretty famous and on the map so yes probably ended up in a ditch or buildings walls or foundation.
@@dave_h_8742 That sounds right, We do see the Romans building small shops and houses next to roads but it is more likely that rain eventually widened the ditch so the stone fell in and later dirt filled in the ditch. Those are impossible to locate unless you are doing construction work in just the right place or use geophys. I think that is probably the main reason why so few stones have been recovered. I don't know if the found stones are in areas that seen more development, They did made a modern road over a large portion of the road parallel to the wall, so I bet they found some of them when they did that. Since the stones are not always easy to recognize either, it might very well be that there are still the majority of stones just waiting to be found. :)
Here, in Denmark, runestones (or fragments thereof) have been found recently when a couple in Randers was redoing their kitchen and, a few years earlier, one was found that had been used as a stone bench on a farm, so these old stones can show up in odd places :)
@@ralach They sure can, which is why I think Paul should have a look at old churches and ruins around where he expect to find a milestone. I don't think it would have been dragged too far, since that would be more job then sourcing the stone locally but within a kilometer or 2. I think he can find one with some work, they should be out there in large numbers but thinking outside the box will increase his chances. He already marked where he think a bunch of them should have stood so looking for old ruins and buildings near those places to see if there is a likely place one of them could have been moved to might be worth the work. Of course if he doesn't find them in situ first. And I mean, in worst case he will film an old ruin or church which always is fun to see anyways. ;)
Paul mentioned the Milestone Society. I am a member and on the back page of one of their 2023 newsletters was a photo of a Swedish Milestone in Bohuslän from 1737 with an information plaque. Using google text to image and then google translate, I provided the English text. It said that "In the middle of the 17th century, it was decided that all major roads in Sweden should be measured and that milestones should be set up. The posts marked out every full, half or quarter mile." [a Swedish Mile is 10km]. PS I then found some other photos of the milestone in Bohuslän complete with the other half of the plaque in English! The 1st UK turnpike road was in 1663.
If I remember my A Level Archaeology correctly, wasn't that centurion called Biggus Dickus and didn't he marry the darling of the Rome social scene, Incontinentia Buttocks?
Excellent! We are meant to have a roman mile post where I live "It is the oldest inscribed milestone found in Derbyshire. The inscription is 'TRIB POT COS II P P A NAVIONE M P XI' which means 'With the tribune's power, twice consul, father of this country. From Navio 11 miles."
I did some measuring on the OS map north of Chester along the Roman Road now followed roughly by the A540. And concluded that the small white early twentieth century County Council milestones are set at Roman Miles rather than statute miles. I concluded that the original Roman milestones at these points had simply been replaced - probably several times - over the centuries since the end of the Roman era. With little regard to accuracy along the route. Something else I noticed was that right angle junctions - ie roads joining a main road also appeared to be at exact multiples of the Roman Mile. Where there would have to be a post of some kind to indicate where the routes went to. So perhaps the reason there are no Roman Milestones to be found is that many have been replaced or updated. And on the sections of road that ceased to be proper roads for vehicles - these pieces of stone have been regarded as abandoned and were carted off to be used as building material. Keep up the good work though - keep looking.
@@marqsee7948 Paul or Rebecca? And then we'd have to drag one of them around the country whenever we wanted to compare other roads. Oh, hang on, they'd probably be up for that...
Thanks for getting so wet Paul. Even though you didn't find one we learned a lot about them and every bit of knowledge helps. We'll all be looking for them on walks near Roman settlements now.
Long live Emperor Whitewick. Younger than me, but already complaining about ageing. 🤣 Keep searching, one day you'll find a stone! And make videos while you're at it.
As others had said already, worked stone has often been recycled by later people, so you might get lucky looking at building foundation after the romans. - Or even in places like drystone walls on farms. - Look at old buildings/ruins dated shortly after the Romans left and you might get to find one...Long shot I know but stranger things have happened !- Might also be worth reaching out to the metal detector communities around the country and see if anyone has spotted something interesting.
Quite right. I am reminded of some very rare examples of post roman inscribed memorial stones found in Wareham when the church was rebuilt in 1841. They had been used in pillers in the original saxon building.
I could see why you thought that could be one, Paul. It put me in mind of the one at Garstang in Lancashire. The Garstang example has only recently been identified as Roman. It’s just off the line of the Roman road, but for 270 odd years, it has been one of two gateposts on a turnpike. But it does show they can still be found - there’s always hope.
@@pwhitewick yes - I’ve posted the link above. As you point out in your video, there’s quite a range of styles. The Garstang one is different to the Middleton one and that’s different to the A66 version. I’m going to do a milestone video at some point with all the - roughly - in situ survivors!
A Roman mile of 1480 meters works out as about 4.8 ft (1.48 meters), Speaking for myself, my normal walking pace is about 4 ft (each step being so close to 2 ft that I've used it for years to measure distances quite reliably). That suggest to me that the 'Roman pace' was actually a jogging step rather than what we would consider a march.
Another excellent video Paul. You really are maintaining very high production values. To echo some of the comments on here, now you have a better understanding of the stones themselves, it may well be worth having a look at some of the older churches close to the roads. Stone may well have been used, and reused, and a trained eye may spot what others have missed.
I hope everyone appreciates the production vales and lengths you go to in your videos. One man with one camera, but all the cutaways showing your movement shows great thought and planning!
great video again Paul, very interesting as always , looks like i will be keeping my eyes open when im out and about lol, really well done and thank you 😊
I have recently been trying to trace the milestones on an early 19th century turnpike. A much easier quest than yours of course but worth baring in mind that in order to be visible from the road they are often on small mounds which could potentially still be identifiable. Also way markers are often used at junctions, another potential place to look. In looking for boundary stones in the New Forest some shown in early o/s maps seem to have been lost to road widening - so probably best to do as you seem to be doing avoiding busy modern roads. It might be possible to identify some potential targets on the mid 19th century 6in or 25inch o/s. Good luck.
When you consider the depth that Roman mosaics are found in fields, soil depth increases by around 0.5 mm per year, in forested areas it will be around 1.0 mm per year, this means the likelihood of finding a milestone is almost zero. This is probably why so few have been found, unless its a tall pillar type, or ground has been disturbed the chances are very remote. The only other way to find one is if it's been reused in a building or boundary wall, but of course the context has been lost, so it will just be a rock with indistinct markings on it. I know this sounds all very negative but it doesn't hurt to keep your eyes peeled wherever you're walking, especially now you have an idea what they might look like.
Watching you walking in the rain, hood down, getting soaked, reminds me of an incident in the early years of my marriage. I was out working in the yard in what I considered not too bad a rain (I was soaked to the skin) when she arrived home from work driving along the road along the side yard, stopped to put down her window and yell, “What the hell is wrong with you!? You don’t have the sense god gave a peanut to come in out of the rain.” Standing up from the muddy hole I was digging I proudly stated, “Ha, peanuts don’t come in out of the rain so I am just as smart as a peanut!” Wait…that didn’t come out right.
Not finding any is just as significant as finding one. You are doing great on the ground research. And making very enjoyable videos as well. That's an achievement to be proud of!
You could run for 4 minutes and decide the strech is a "you-mile", not only can you now say youve succsesfully ran a 4 minute mile, but also you can measure your improvement compared to when you started :D
I do love your videos. This one was fascinating, even if your 'find' was not what you hoped. My money is on there being some out there somewhere and that you will find one, one day. Thanks for you dedication to keeping us entertained and educated!
Thank you for sharing bits your journey. Even on that some may label as a "failure". The point of a journey isn't the end-goal, but rather what we learn and experience at alone the way.
I live very close to Silchester, and the Imp stone in Pamber Heath. While I do believe that if it is a Roman milestone, it probably isn't in it's original location, I suspect it was originally on a Roman road that isn't identified as such.
Hi Paul, I was willing you on to find one but it wasn't to be this time. I think one that had fallen down would be quite long as you would need to embed them in the ground so the one you found might be about the right size perhaps. My opinion is that there wouldn't be one every Roman mile. I think they would be sited at junctions or stopping points. How does that fit in with the 95 identified? Finding one really would be a legacy and I hope you get lucky!! All the best!!
Paul, I admire your dedication and persistence, 'against all odds'! 👍 The 'case of the missing milestones' brought to mind a similar story, although I'm not implying the milestones suffered the same fate! An American fellow, who likes to mess about in boats, was talking about an obscure journal he had encountered, belonging to a Mississippi boat skipper. He was employed by the authorities over a period of about 30 years around the turn of the C18th/C19th, to remove and dump offshore all the stone navigation stele up and down the Mississippi river system. They just happened to be inscribed with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs!
If nothing else a very logical bit of detective work. We have a road near us that we like to travel. It was originally surveyed by the young George Washington. He set up milestones on it, probably based on the Roman ideas. They recently did a renovation down the whole road and located a good number of the lost milestones. Route 144 in Maryland. It is a very interesting historical road and maintains many of its most early features which includes town spacing's and their names.
Gripped by your dedication to find one! There is something special about a stone marker, be that a milestone, a waymarker or some other special stone mark. They are too easy to walk past without even spotting but, with a keen eye and an awareness of these things, they do pop up in view sometimes! Cheers, Warren :)
the romans used a machine to mesure distance a cart like thing with the wheel rotation turning a cog that was connected to the wheel on the cart after so many rotations a ball would drop marking the distance .i seen this on a documentry .the fact it was mechanised made for better accrracy as you wouldnt be goverened by the stride of any one person as each person may have diffrent stride .
Just love watching your dedication. The best history lessons on RU-vid. I hope some day you do find a milestone and you get the credit that you and Rebecca deserve.
"The best history lessons on RU-vid." Errr... well, you're entitled to your opinion, but I hard disagree. Hey, I like this channel a lot and appreciate it (otherwise I wouldn't be here watching, and reading the comments). But the best "history lessons" channel I know on RU-vid, is by far Apostolic Majesty - not only for the sheer breadth of subjects covered, but also the sheer depth. But because of that, it's not for the faint hearted, and it's also much more academic and therefore generally 'dry' content. It's not for everyone, I get that, but purely for "history lessons", it's in a different stratosphere to this here, objectively so.
This might be compared with the search for Range, Township and section stones over much of the USA. Many years ago I found 2 of them in place by digging out stones that had been buried by vegetation that turned to soil, and these Roman stones have had about a 16 century to 18 century head stat on these stones. The lost ones were often found in farmers gardens, having been collected as "Indian Stones"
Hi Paul Another interesting video, i dont know if you have done something like this previously, but your bookshelves always grab my attention. Would you consider doing a video on your top 10 reads for finding lesser known paths and roads. I have the old straight track and few on Hardy's Wessex and some on Glastonbury . Plus a few ordnance survey maps. I live in Brasil but venture back to the uk from time to time and do the rounds of 2nd hand bookshops etc.
Must be stunning to see these Roman era landmarks and partial structures. Your conversation and tour were great as always. Hello to Rebecca and see you on the next, Paul! 🇬🇧🙂👍🇺🇸
As an aside, where was the 'mile' actually measured from ? Was it the centre of the town, the Agora, the main gate or some other point ?I have often wondered where modern road signs that give the distance to some town measure the end point, In London (for instance) is it Trafalgar Square or the Tower of London or somewhere else ? In a similar vein the Greenwich meridian was contested by the French for many years, they wanted 0 degrees to be in Paris instead of London. The start (or finish of any measurement) is always interesting.
Good luck with your search, it's a great challenge and a noble one. Beautiful countryside. Lucky you don't have any aggressive snakes to contend with, though I keep thinking of Sean Lock's Tramp!!
Sorry you didn't find what you were looking for, but I am glad you posted this. It's an honest adventure presented honestly, without any fabrication or sensationalism, which is something to be applauded.
There is one in the Village of St Nicolas on the A48 between Cardiff and Cowbridge, says Legit 11 August, another around Abergavenny somewhere, two in Neath Brecon one in Builth one on top of a mountain near Tregaron , the Pompeius Stone at Margam Museum was standing on the Via Marinari between Margam and Porthcawl, Wales is the least searched in Britain, some have been found in Farmers Walls. St Davids has some Roman Stones that may well have been Milestones, certainly the Stone you said that was not near a Roman Road is Roman, the Marks are of Treasure and a Possible burial, there are many like this between Margam and Cowbridge. Also in the South Wales Valleys near Gelligaer and Pontypridd and Caerphilly and Gelligaer. people are just blind to the History around them, there are Roman marker stones on Mynydd Baiden above Llangynwyd, which was a site of Battle in the 6th Century between Britons and Saxons also on the Margam Mountain and Baiden Mountain which join each other, there are Four Roman Forts, six Celtic Hillforts three of which were still in use in the 9th or 10th Century, also a Viking Fort that was from the 9th Century and was a Trading post with the Celtic people for about 30 Years and also one below at Stormy Down. There are many signs of the Romans that are not registered in Wales, they were everywhere, the Romans criss crossed the Welsh Mountains from North to South and East to West, of course there was no Wales or Scotland or England then and the peoples all spoke Brythonic Celtic , there were Major Gold Silver Lead Tin Copper Silica Iron Ore and other mines all across what is now Wales, with two very Large Iron ore mines at Pentyrch and Llanharri in Glamorgan, also Coal was mined and had been for at least 4000 Years before the Romans.
Amazing work as always. I’ve been watching your channel quite a few years now. Today was a good day. One of your best videos to date. Keep up the good work. You have a lovely way of explaining things,, I see you brother!!!
Very interesting, Paul. I suspect many of them could be under the ground now. Also, the passage of time has to be a reason why so few are found. Near my parents’ house in Suffolk is the remains of a medieval priory - by remains, it’s one section of wall, about 3 feet long. A Roman mile stone is about twice the age and much smaller than a medieval priory!
Fascinating, please keep up the search! It reminded me of that child who used star charts to correctly predict where a lost Mayan city should be in the jungle, given that most of their cities aligned with constellations.
Great video. But considering the value of a cut and dressed stone, I'm surprised so many were found to date. But from a practical point of view, after walking 1300 miles of Camino in Spain and Portugal, any 1 km or .5 km marker seemed to be a magnet for vandals. Human nature remains constant. How many were destroyed "just because."
Really enjoyed this as always. When you were walking through those woods i was wondering if the stones would be buried under all that undergrowth. You may have stepped on one. 😊
outside the front door of 110 Lincoln High st is a stone that is known as a roman mile stone, but it has no inscription on it, it is placed in what would be the drainage ditch between the Foss Way and the Ermine St. so is very close to Roman infrastructure.
Great video Paul. I know, from personal experience, how hard it is just trying to find "old boundary stones" showing on 1895 maps (especially in Dorset!). Great research & presentation as always.
I agree with what others have said about finding possible stones in churches. In my area (Mid-Essex) it is said that at least 2-3 churches were built on possible stone circle sites, some of which stones were incorporated into or under the building of the churches. A lot of Roman brick is visible in the fabric of the church walls. Also one church (St Mary's Broomfield) is thought to have been constructed using alot of material from a nearby deteriorated `Roman Villa, there is a stone in the exterior wall of the church which seems to have a face carved into it, as if it were part of a Roman statue or carving repurposed. I would be interested to see more videos on this Hunt.
I can’t help but wonder in all the locations you didn’t find one, if there may have been one there but buried a little (or a lot). It seems highly likely for stones to have fallen (or been pushed over). With the time that has passed a fallen stone could get covered over. Finding one would be great, because you would then have a confirmation on where to start measuring and know whether your calculated locations were correct, or possibly off by just a bit. Wish I lived in England and could help!
13:20, ive had my own disagreement with so-called experts about a matter (not related to archeology). because after your consultation, they have declared it will not be a valuable roman milestone, you have a right to dig it out, scrub it down and see if it has anything engraved on it. as the irish say, 'to be sure, to be sure'.
You need to review your map with areas of land that haven't changed usage to get the best results. Farms and town move and rebuilt everything but if you have a route going through an actual ancient woodland or some other geography that's not been changed then you might have a better chance at the stones also not being moved
Thanks Paul for enduring such awful weather and putting yourself out there! You are an inspiration in showing us that we mustn't let the great British weather spoiling our plans! Fascinating content: well done.
Do you have distances from contemporary sources so that you can check how accurate the 1480 meter mile was measured? As you plot each stone the accumulation of errors grows quite large.
Yup. I didn't mention it. (Saved for Part 2). However there is one stone in situ near Dorchester. Said to be very close to its original location. It is 1482m from the Forum
NZer here - you're sooo lucky, Paul, to be in such an old country with its *mountains* of history! Richard III, for example, being dug up in a car park! Even your geology is great - the dinosaur fossils that the UK has far outnumber ours!
From when I refereed football [and as an architect student] we used one pace as one yard, and practiced on cement footpaths, which were normally 1 yard between expansion joints [before metrification]. So while the 1481m to the Roman mile would be right, according to the internet tables, that would make a Roman mile close to 1618 yards, or 1618 paces. That to me seems a very odd distance to have in a very organised Roman army world. But according to other places on the internet, 'mille passuum, meaning a thousand paces' [or 5000 roman feet, which must mean their feet were a lot smaller than an Imperial foot].
Felt like I was watching a BBC documentary, one of those ones they were making plenty of back in the 2000s. Great stuff, and fingers crossed for finding one in a part 2!
When I was a child, I was told that a marker stone on the A30 between Sutton Scotney and Stockbridge was a Roman milestone. I cannot remember the location along the road, as I was only about 10 at the time, which is 55 years ago.
Another interesting video 😊. We've got a roman milestone just out side of Dorchester (Dorset) it was moved about 25 years ago when the bypass was built, its still on the side of the road, just not where the Romans left it.
Ah yes. I found that a little too late for filming but it's hugely helpful. If thatbis in situ... and not moved far, then it tells us the Roman miles we're measured from the forum. As that distance fits perfectly.
Even with nothing unearthed or pinpointed, there is value in getting onto the cultural landscape. It's like the anglers saying they go out; catching fish is secondary. Same for some golfers: getting out on the ground it the thing, whether the ball goes in the hole or not is secondary.
Interesting, something else to look out for while I'm out and about. Just found out there was an old roman road not far from me. I had previously wondered though as there's a straight line of roads and lanes that all link up.
Hearing you talk about no milestones before hadrian , reminded me of a lecture when Hedly Swain was speaking about Roman milestones in general , how few & many of those that have remains of inscriptions but no mention of miles.. I wonder how many are part of the structure of old farmhouses, re-used again and again over the centuries.
