Summary

A canal milestone of 1797, repositioned around 1890, for the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal. These stones marked the quarter-mile distances along the canal, which served many closely-spaced collieries.

Description

A canal milestone of 1797, probably repositioned around 1890, for the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal.

MATERIALS: buff sandstone.

DESCRIPTION: the post stands around half a metre high and is set into the ground close to the northern bank of the canal. It is rectangular in cross-section, with (slightly damaged) flat top. The front (south) face is dressed, but the other faces rough-hewn. The front face is inscribed ‘M/ 10 3/4’ (the distance from Manchester) in deeply-incised, serifed lettering.

History

The milestone at 10 3/4 miles from Manchester was originally erected in 1797, and might have been moved to its present location around 1890. The Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal was authorised by Parliament in 1791 and opened to both of its destinations by 1797. It comprised a level summit canal extending to Bolton and Bury, and a branch descending 54m from Nob End (in the middle of this level) to Salford. The canal was connected to the River Irwell in 1808, and then across the Irwell to the Bridgewater Canal in 1838, and to the Rochdale Canal via the Manchester and Salford Junction Canal in 1839. This was principally a coal canal, and the frequency of collieries along it drove the requirement for distance posts to be sited every quarter of a mile, to allow accurate charging of tolls.

Around 1890, several of the canal’s milestones were moved slightly closer to Salford, and mostly from the north bank to the south bank. The Ordnance Survey (OS) 1:10.560 map of 1850 (surveyed between 1844 and 1846) marks a stone on the north bank in this approximate location (around 120m to the north-east of the present location), but it is not labelled in the same way as other milestones. This feature is next to the indicated line of the Roman road from Manchester to Ribchester. An account (published in 1842) of tracing the line of the road states that the canal’s 10 3/4 milestone stood exactly on the line of the road, which does suggest that it was the stone marked there on the 1850 map. The OS 1:2,500 maps of 1893 and 1909 did not mark intermediate milestones. The revisions of 1927 and 1937 did mark some intermediate milestones, but do not mark a stone in this location. It is likely that this stone was moved to its current position around 1890.

This post is one of around 20 that are thought to survive in situ. One unbroken sequence of eight stones, spanning from the 7-mile marker on the Salford branch up to 8 3/4 miles on the Bolton branch, was listed in 1986. This corresponding sequence extends by another eight stones to the 10-mile stone on the Bury branch. There is also a shorter sequence half a mile further north, from 10 3/4 to 11 3/4 miles on the Bury branch, which is missing the stone at 11 1/2 miles.

A major breach of the canal in 1936 cut the Bury branch off from Bolton and Salford, but this branch continued to be used for local traffic until 1966, and (in 2025) several sections are still in water. The entire canal was officially closed in 1961.

Reasons for Listing

The Manchester Bolton and Bury Canal Milestone At 10 3/4 Miles From Manchester, a canal milestone of 1797 repositioned around 1890, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a lettered milestone in its historic position it is a good example of historic canal furniture and illustrates the commercial operation of the canal.

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