Boundary Post near 1 Windsor Court Rathfriland Road Newry Co Down BT34 1JF

This granite boundary stone is one of 14 largely identical markers set along Newry's former municipal limits. The stone, located on the north side of Windsor Hill / Rathfriland Road, approximately 1 kilometre north-east of Newry town centre, is believed to date from 1871–72, though some stones in the series may be later.

The stone is oblong in section, standing about 0.57 metres in height, with a dressed finish to its front face and an arched or pointed top. It is presently largely hidden from view due to thick plant growth. The front face bears the incised letters 'M B', presumably standing for 'Municipal Boundary'.

Following the Lighting of Towns (Ireland) Act of 1828, local government was established in Newry through the Commissioners of Police. A municipal boundary was eventually agreed upon, with the area of the town stated to have been fixed by special act of 1865. However, these boundaries lacked official status until 1871, when the Newry Improvement and Water Act was passed, formally incorporating the Town Commissioners as a municipal body and laying down the settlement's limits. This same boundary was later readopted by the Newry Urban District Council, which succeeded the Commissioners following local government reform in 1898.

Whether Newry possessed boundary markers prior to 1871 is uncertain. No mention of such objects appears in the town's newspapers before this date, despite their frequent reference as location points in contemporary incident reports and property sale notices. In October 1871, however, the Commissioners appointed Robert Beard to furnish eighteen cut granite stones for borough boundary marks according to specifications. References to 'boundary stones' begin to appear frequently in the local press from mid-1872 onwards. It is likely that most of the in-situ granite markers visible today were supplied by Beard (probably Robert Baird, a stone cutter with a yard in Mary Street in the 1880s) and therefore date from circa 1871–72.

Ordnance Survey maps record at least 20 stones marked along the Urban District Council boundary between 1903 and 1939, though the uniform design of all stones makes it difficult to determine whether there is any variation in date. Some inconsistencies in the maps themselves may account for discrepancies in recording. Certain stones have become encased in walls, whilst others that have always been freestanding may have been obscured from view by overgrown vegetation. The boundary stone near 1 Windsor Court is marked on the Ordnance Survey map of 1919.

As a group, these 14 boundary stones remain largely intact and constitute one of the most complete collections of such features in the whole of Northern Ireland. They are important local artefacts, marking both literally and metaphorically Newry's growth and regional importance during the mid to later Victorian period.