Mileposts of Morvern

Home , Corran Ferry, Glenborrodale, Liddesdale, Strontian

The Mileposts of Morvern

Paula Martin

Approaching Morvern from the Corran Ferry, one starts along the Parliamentary Road to Kinlochmoidart, built during the first two decades of the 19th century. Along it can be seen several granite milestones. One just before the turning at Inversanda says Strontian 8, Corran Ferry 7. Another before the turning left to Lochaline at the head of Loch Sunart, says Strontian 2, Corran 13.

The road via Kingairloch was half a mile shorter, and seems originally to have been the main road to Lochaline from the Fort William or Oban direction, but the modern main road, running from the other end of Glen Tarbert, is wider, and may well by now have lost that extra half mile through realignments. Both roads have some survivors of a set of cast-iron mileposts (Tables 1 and 2). The posts are of a simple design, with no maker's name or date. They have two arms, angled to face the approaching traveller, each with one place-name and the distance to it.

After the two roads join, between 12 and 11 miles from Lochaline, the set continues (Table 3). After Lochaline the series continues to near the end of the public road (Table 4). One side still measures the distance from Corran, but the other arm gives the distance to Bonnavoulin (meaning, at the time they were erected, the post office above the pier at what we now call Drimnin).

A set of a different design can be found on the old road from Drimnin to Doirlinn (Table 5). Without damage from modern traffic, these have survived well.

22 How can these mileposts be dated? Milestones have been in use for a very long time, but probably increased in number as roads were turnpiked during the late- 18th and early-19th centuries, at which date cast-iron seems to have been preferred to stone. Many cast-iron examples in Scotland can be dated to the 1840s and 1850s, but on minor roads or in remote areas they tend to be later. In 1890 all public roads in Argyll were taken over by the new County Council, who may well have felt a need to erect markers on roads where they did not already exist.

The first edition of the Ordnance Survey 6" to a mile (1:10,560) map, surveyed in the early 1870s, marks milestones (MS) in the locations of the present mileposts, on the main roads in Morvern. These roads were laid out between 1857 and 1862. The second edition, surveyed in 1897, notes most but not all of them as mileposts (MP). The most likely explanation is that the original milestones were replaced by mileposts in around 1897, and the surveyors caught the process not quite completed. This would fit well with the management of the roads being taken over by the County Council.

No milestones or mileposts are shown on the maps on any of the minor roads, with one exception. The road from Drimnin to Doirlinn, where there was an inn and a ferry to Ardnamurchan, has a set, of different design. These mileposts have a maker's name, but no date. The design, however, matches some examples on Mull which bear the date 1897. This road was built in the 1870s. There are no mileposts marked on the 1897 map, but they were probably put up soon after that, when the road was (briefly) adopted by the County Council. The posts are numbered from the Doirlinn end, so might be associated with an attempt to restore or promote the ferry route from Glenborrodale.

This design, produced by a foundry at Blaydon, near Newcastle, was used over a wide area. As well as examples on Mull, Seil and Luing, they can be seen in Ardnamurchan, and in Berwickshire and west Fife. Early cast-iron mileposts were usually individual castings. In Fife there are many cast-iron caps on stone posts, dating to before 1855, which use very attractive curly lettering, and every cap was individually cast. Later examples, however, look as though the basic post was mass-produced with the two place-names, and the numbers were added individually, as there are examples where numbers have become detached, as for instance the post just outside Lochaline, which says Corran 1 where it should say 31.

Roads in Morvern 1847–8 Old Pier built, and a section of road at Bonnavoulin. 1853–5 Achranich to Caolas Ferry (private). 1857–62 Inversanda to Achagavel, Achagavel to Kiel, Kiel to Bonnavoulin, and Head of Loch Sunart to Achagavel. 1860s Road to Rahoy. 1872–3 Crosben Road (Black Glen), and Achranich to Tearnait. c.1880 Drimnin to Doirlinn. 1883 Lochaline steamer pier and road link. 1890 All public roads taken over by the County Council. 1891 Road along the western shore of Loch Aline (private). pre-1914 The half-mile loop at Uileann was replaced.

23 Table 1. Inversanda to Achagavel All are marked as milestones on the Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 map of 1872–3, and as mileposts on the OS 1:10,560 map of 1897, the 1:63,360 map of 1954 and the 1/25,000 map of 1976. No. Seen Grid Approximate R/L L side R side Comments Ref. location (NM) 1 2010 922 by loch R Corran 8 Lochaline painted 585 24 2 2006 912 R Corran 9 Lochaline 573 23 3 Kilmalieu bay R [Corran [Lochaline 10] 22] 4 2010 893 after Kilmalieu R Corran Lochaline painted 551 11 21 5 873 near fish-trap R [Corran [Lochaline 527 12] 20] 6 2010 873 narrow stretch R Corran Lochaline 527 13 19 7 2010 865 Glengalmadale R Corran Lochaline painted 531 Bridge 14 18 8 2010 857 estate road R Corran Lochaline 525 15 17 9 2010 841 above Kingairloch R Corran Lochaline 531 House 16 16 10 2006 828 end of forestry R Corran Lochaline 541 17 15 11 2003 816 before Loch Uisge R Corran Lochaline 547 18 14 12 2010 802 top end of Loch R Corran Lochaline painted 553 Uisge 19 13 13 787 Top of road R [Corran [Lochaline 555 20] 12]

Table 2. Head of Loch Sunart to Achagavel All but no. 18 are marked as milestones on the Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 map of 1872– 3. On the OS 1:10,560 map of 1897 nos 15 and 16 are milestones but 14, 17, 18 and 19 mileposts. By the 1:63,360 map of 1954 14 is not marked, and the rest are mileposts. By the 1/25,000 map of 1976 14, 16 and 19 are not marked. No. Seen Grid Location R/L L side R side Comments Ref. (NM) 14 Lochhead R [Corran [Lochaline 14½] 18] 15 2010 808 opposite Strontian R Corran Lochaline L arm 601 15½ 17 broken 16 793 Achleek R [Corran [Lochaline 601 16½] 16] 17 2010 780 Upper Liddesdale R Corran Lochaline 594 Cottage 17½ 15 18 2006 772 Allt na Meinne R Corran Lochaline 582 18½ 14 19 R [Corran [Lochaline 19½] 13]

24 Table 3. Achagavel to Kiel All are marked as milestones on the Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 map of 1872–3, and as mileposts on the OS 1:10,560 map of 1897 and the 1:63,360 map of 1954. By the 1/25,000 map of 1976 22–24 and 28 are not marked. No. Seen Grid Location R/L L side R side Comments Ref. (NM) 20 2010 771 opposite R Corran 21 Lochaline 555 Achagavel 11 21 2006 761 N of Beach R Corran 22 Lochaline 543 10 22 2010 753 S of Beach R Corran 23 Lochaline 9 530 23 N of Uileann R [Corran [Lochaline 24] 8] 24 S of Uileann R [Corran [Lochaline 25] 7] 25 2010 724 E of Uladail R Corran 26 Lochaline 6 painted 504 26 W of Uladail R [Corran [Lochaline 27] 5] 27 2010 698 Claggan R Corran 28 Lochaline 4 painted, 497 moved? 28 2010 695 Larachbeg R Corran 29 Lochaline 3 moved slightly 484 29 2010 688 Kinlochaline R Corran 30 Lochaline 2 painted 471 moved slightly? 30 2010 681 N of Lochaline R Corran Lochaline 1 number lost 458 [3]1 moved slightly?

Table 4. Kiel to Bonnavoulin (former Post Office, above pier) All are marked as milestones on the Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 map of 1872–3. On the OS 1:10,560 map of 1897, 31–35 are mileposts and 36–40 milestones. They are all marked as mileposts on the 1:63,360 map of 1954 and the 1/25,000 map of 1976. No. Seen Grid Location L/R L side R side Comments Ref. (NM) 31 2010 668 452 Kiel L Corran 32 Bonnavoulin 10¼ relocated 32 2005 653 452 Achabeg R Corran 33 Bonnavoulin 9¼ 33 639 458 Savary Bridge R [Corran 34] [Bonnavoulin 8¼] 34 2010 624 461 Fiunary Farm R Corran 35 Bonnavoulin 7¼ 35 2010 610 467 Fiunary R Corran 36 Bonnavoulin 6¼ end of L caravans arm broken 36 2003 598 473 R Corran 37 Bonnavoulin 5¼ 37 2010 587 485 Castle of the R Corran 38 Bonnavoulin 4¼ Dogs 38 581 501 Killundine R [Corran 39] [Bonnavoulin Bridge 3¼] 39 2010 570 510 before R Corran 40 Bonnavoulin 2¼ painted and Glenmorvern set back 40 2010 563 523 below old R Corran 41 Bonnavoulin 1¼ church

25 Table 5. Doirlinn to Drimnin This set is not marked on the Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 map of 1872–3, or the OS 1:10,560 map of 1897, or the 1:63,360 map of 1954. All but 41 are marked on the 1/25,000 map of 1976. No. Seen Grid Ref. Location L/R L side R side Comments (NM) 41 2006 607 585 Doirlinn L Drimnin Dorlin 6¾ = 42 2005 596 580 Druimbuidhe L Drimnin Dorlin 1 5¾ 43 587 576 after L [Drimnin [Dorlin missing 1997 Druimbuidhe 4¾] 2] Bridge 44 2005 573 572 Portabhata L Drimnin Dorlin 3 3¾ 45 2005 560 572 before Auliston R Drimnin Dorlin 4 has been 2¾ moved 46 2008 552 562 after Auliston L Drimnin Dorlin 5 1¾ 47 2008 555 548 behind Drimnin L Drimnin Dorlin 6 Ho. ¾ 48 2010 556 580 at road junction L Drimnin = Dorlin 6¾

While one can be sure if a milepost is in situ, it is much harder to be sure it is not. That is why these tables note whether a stone has been seen recently. The road from Lochaline to Drimnin, for example, underwent major clearance of roadside vegetation in 2009, with the result that more mileposts are now visible. Hunting them is also complicated by the fact that having apparently been moved from the old road to the new in the early 1970s, some are no longer exactly a mile apart from each other.

Coincidentally, after this paper was written, an article appeared in Milestones and Waymarkers, the journal of the Milestone Society, volume 3, 2009, 27–36, by Mervyn Benford, Ian Jolly and David Viner, who had separately visited the area in 2003, 2005 and 2008 respectively. I have included their observations for the few posts which I have not seen myself.