NHER 45366 (Structure record) - Post-medieval milestone at Coronation Belt marking Holt 10 miles and Dereham 8 miles

Milestone. One of a set connecting the pillars or “obelisks” at Holt (NHER 17829) and East Dereham; the pillars were given by Sir Jacob Astley of Melton Constable Hall at some date before 1797 and the milestones may also have been provided by him. They have the distances to each town on each side, but this example also had until recently two metal hooks projecting (S1) and a metal pintle in the top. There is also an OS benchmark. Coronation Belt to the west was planted at the coronation of Edward VII and formerly there was a clear view (and note the range of close-set spot heights along this road on (S2); were the hooks to do with some sort of surveying station? However (S3) states that all the milestones in the set once had the hooks. (S4) suggests that they were used to attach measuring chains to regulate the road width, or less plausibly that they were a reference to Astley’s status as a cattle breeder.
E. Rose (NLA), 5 July 2006.

(S5) contains further information about this milestone.
D. Holburn (HES), 16 January 2012.

2012. Maintenance work by the Milestone Society.
One of 60 milestones restored to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, see publication (S6).
Milestone Society members created a visibility splay and cleaned before being painted. The stone was raised. Revealing more lettering and re-set higher. A French drain was created below the milestone.
Information from survey form (S7) and photographs (S8).
H. Mellor (HES), 22 May 2018.