The Engineer 612 Posted September 15, 2020 Report Share Posted September 15, 2020 There is a footpath across the canal as a part of the Great Northern Close bridge (off London Road) where the tow path swaps sides. I have crossed there many times but only recently noticed a series of Roman numerals from I to XII carved into the paving stones. They span the whole bridge but are not equally spaced. Any ideas what they indicate? The other side of the footpath has a series of small iron covers marked 'Gas' and I wondered about those as well. A bit too close to each other to be isolation points for gas lights. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,435 Posted September 15, 2020 Report Share Posted September 15, 2020 Is this the place you're referring to ? https://goo.gl/maps/89dVuiEzohwYJ1Hv7 I've walked along London Road at that point but not on the canal path. I might take a closer look. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stuart.C 483 Posted September 15, 2020 Report Share Posted September 15, 2020 Mr Engineer, do you mean in the slabs on the left, looks like there's a V mid picture? https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.9482784,-1.1399968,3a,30y,80.06h,68.83t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sGEfHkhYVL9amiZmJFT2RXw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en And a III and IIII in this one https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.948285,-1.1400246,3a,15y,96h,57.41t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1suJU7e3I0k6lxCHjtlDGlvw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en The numbers may have been stonemasons marks. I suspect the bridge has been rebuilt in the past and the slabs got moved around, looking at the ramp on London Rd side the quality of stonework changes mid point, ; https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.9483737,-1.1398308,3a,75y,263.57h,97.83t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sE688j3dJ5en2bneKGGryOw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Engineer 612 Posted September 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2020 Cliff and Stuart, yes, that is the spot and they are the marks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stuart.C 483 Posted September 16, 2020 Report Share Posted September 16, 2020 Eastcroft (Town gas) works was on the land that Great Northern Close leads to, so the Gas covers were probably valves on outlets from the works. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,435 Posted September 20, 2020 Report Share Posted September 20, 2020 With nothing better to do the other day, I had a closer look at the marks. They aren't obvious and I guess many people would never notice them. One idea I had is that maybe they were transplanted from somewhere else, and numbered to put them back in the same sequence. The numbers run consecutively across the bridge. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Engineer 612 Posted September 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2020 Thank you Cliff Ton. Slight amendment to my original post: I think they only go up to X (not XII). I agree the most likely reason is for identification when moved/re-bedded. I do wonder why a mason would use Roman numerals - maybe because it only needs straight lines (easier to carve). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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