Monument record MHG53213 - Daill

NC36NE 104 3645 6817
This milestone is situated 190m W of Daill farmsteading (NC36NE 98) and is set into the top of a low revetment wall on the upper (N) side of the public road (NC36NE 101) that links a slipway on the Kyle of Durness (NC 3708 6603) to the lighthouse (NC27SE 3.00) at Cape Wrath. Rectangular in section, the granite slab measures 0.34m in breadth by 0.13m in thickness and 0.47m in height. The vertical front face, which is roughly dressed, has been painted white and the incised number nine, denoting the distance in miles to the lighthouse, has been painted black. The top of the stone is steeply bevelled towards the rear.
The date of erection of the milestone is unknown, but it was probably soon after the road was adopted as a public highway in 1833 and it was certainly in place by 1874, when it was surveyed for the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Sutherland 1878, sheet V). A local tradition that the milestones along the 11 mile length of the road were fabricated by lighthouse keepers cannot be substantiated, but it would provide an explanation why there is a variation in their respective designs and dimensions.
Visited by RCAHMS (JRS) 11 August 2008.
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