Welcome to the website of the Yorkshire Group of the Milestone Society.
The menu options on the left will direct you to the various sections of the site:
About milestones and waymarkers: in this section you will find links to a wealth of articles on the historic roadside features in Yorkshire: not just milestones, but guide-stones, boundary markers, bridge markers, toll-houses, etc.
Find Yorkshire’s milestones takes you to a map of the county (the traditional old county before it was re-organised for administrative purposes in 1974), with pins showing the locations of all known mile- and guide-stones – from which you can obtain a picture of each. NB: to find other types of waymarker in Yorkshire, or milestones in the rest of the country visit the Milestone Society Repository site (see the links under Resources on the left).
Picture galleries: this section illustrates a wide variety of features by type or theme.
Forthcoming events and past activities of the Group
Milestone walks: we like to get out and about! Here are links to over a dozen walks around the county with a waymarker theme: some produced by members of the Society, others by different local organisations. We hope you will enjoy following these walks and will encourage other clubs and walking groups to do likewise! If you have other suitable walks, please let us have details.
Beyond Graffiti: an initiative being launched in Kirklees to introduce younger people to the fascinating heritage of waymarking, in a fun way, through stone-carving workshops, etc.
Resources: links to relevant websites, etc.
Milestones give a ‘sense of place’ as well as indicating directions and distances, being made from local materials and to a wide variety of designs. The Milestone Society was formed in 2001 to record milestone data, research their history and raise public awareness of the need for appropriate care of them. To date, over 18,000 milestones and other waymarkers have been identified in the country, while Yorkshire alone has over 1500. A number of our members are active in restoration projects, working with the Highways Authorities. You will find guidance on restoring milestones on the national website. We are building up a range of case studies from around the region to inspire you and your council’s Highways and Conservation Officers.
We are always pleased to hear from anyone who has news of a milestone or other 
waymarker in danger from roadworks, as well as suggestions for future events and activities. If you would like to contact us or join us, click here. There is a form for joining the Society using Paypal to safeguard your credit or debit card payments. We look forward to welcoming you.
We have endeavoured to quote sources wherever appropriate, but others which have been used extensively and not always attributed include the Milestone Society’s databases and their photographs on geograph.org.uk; historicengland.org.uk (for many milestones etc are listed by Historic England); visionofbritain.org.uk; nationalarchives.gov.uk; genuki.org.uk; old Ordnance Survey maps on maps.nls.uk; current Ordnance Survey maps on bing.com/maps; and of course Wikipedia.
JHS / updated September 2020