The only way I ever seem to see a waymaker, is when I fall over or open the car door on one. This is what happened yesterday when visiting a church at Stow Bardolph. There is quite a bit of history concerning waymarkers or mile stones, with some that date back to Roman times, but the ones that I am interested in date from 1697. This is when William III passed an act decreeing that in the more remote parts of the kingdom, where two or more paths intersected, the local surveyors were to erect guide stones showing the way to the nearest market town. I’m not sure when this one was placed here, as it is not dated, I will have to learn a little bit more about then, before I can give an opinion. An interesting fact is they were removed during the last war and then replaced afterwards.
This marker is telling us that Stow Bardolph is 2 miles from Downham Market and 9 miles from Kings Lynn.
Echoes of the Past 