Milestone, near 189 Newry Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4JZ

This milestone is a rare survival, one of approximately 20 remaining of a group of 24 that originally marked the route between Newry and Newcastle. It is a finely-dressed granite post with a pyramidal top, set into a vegetated bank on the left side of the Newry Road, west of the junction with the Ballyardle Road, when travelling west. The milestone projects approximately 35cm above ground level and measures 30cm square in cross-section. The figure “13” is incised at a height of 15cm on three faces; the face toward Kilkeel is blank. Its location on the seaward side of the road, and the fact that one mileage number appears on its back face, suggest that this stone may have been relocated. It is theorized that it might have been moved from the opposite side of the road and inadvertently rotated 90 degrees during the construction of the Mourne Park boundary wall. The milestone is not shown on any Ordnance Survey map from 1834 onwards. Because the measurement indicates distance in Irish miles, it is likely to be from the early 19th century, dating between 1800 and 1819. The milestone is of industrial archaeological interest.