Milestone (Mile Marker), At entrance to, 75 Cushendall Road, Ballyvoy, Ballycastle, Co. Antrim, BT54 6QY

A repositioned freestanding cast-iron milepost dating from the early 20th century, sited on the main A2 road between Cushendall and Ballycastle. The milepost was originally positioned approximately 60 metres further east along the road in the direction of Cushendall, but was discarded during road works some 20 years ago and has since been salvaged and re-erected at the entrance laneway to 75 Cushendall Road by the property owner.

The milepost is of cast-iron construction, painted white with bas-relief edges and legends picked out in black. It has a vee cross-section with a canted top and open back. The hip (top cant) reads "Belfast / 63", the east-facing cant (facing Cushendall) reads "Ballycastle / 2? / miles", and the west-facing cant (facing Ballycastle) reads "Cushendall / 13¾ / miles", all in serif letters and numbers. The distances shown include not only whole-mile measurements but also one-eighth and one-quarter mile divisions, reflecting the slower modes of transport—on foot and by horse—that would have been common when the milepost was originally erected.

The milepost does not appear on the 1857 Ordnance Survey map but first appears on the 1903-04 edition, captioned "M.P. 2? 13¾", denoting distances in miles and furlongs from Ballycastle and Cushendall respectively. It is similarly recorded on the 1922 edition. Its creation likely dates from the reorganisation of local government in Ireland in 1898. As each milepost was a unique casting, with legends configured to indicate mileage to the next main settlement, the distances shown on this example reflect measurement from the former General Post Office in Royal Avenue, Belfast.

The milepost is now embedded in the ground in front of a wooden fence surrounding the front garden to number 75, positioned on a grass verge on the south side of Cushendall Road, almost directly opposite a lane to another farm. The surrounding landscape consists of open fields aside from the main road and the aforementioned property garden.

This is one of only two recorded mileposts surviving along the A2 in Moyle, making it a rare survivor. Most of the mileposts that once dotted the province's roads at regular intervals have been lost to road widening, traffic impacts and theft. Its companion milepost is located just over a mile along the same road in the direction of Cushendall, and the two have group value as surviving examples of this once-common roadside feature. The milepost is of local interest and industrial archaeological interest.