The examples below show WD and Admiralty Boundary Stones. The image from Devonport Dockyard shows both a WD and Admiralty Symbol.
Boundary Stones
Berehaven Anchorage, Ireland
Rocky Battery, Jamaica
Hawkins Battery, Plymouth
Dockyard, Devonport
Admiralty, Penlee Battery
Boundary Stones have been used for centuries to mark out the limits of land and it was also used specifically to mark out properties under the control of the military. The used of boundary stones, particularly in areas where the general public may know be able to read English, was a simple and clear way to delineate land. Boundary Stones are usually blocks of stone set in the ground, but it not uncommon for the boundary markers to be embedded in brick walls or existing boundary fences. Boundary Stones were used extensively throughout the British Empire, and the existence of these stones is sometimes the only current proof of the old military usage.
The Boundary Stones tended to have engraved on them at least three pieces of information. The Number of the stone, the body holding the property and the Broad Arrow.
Simon's Town
The Broad Arrow which has continued in use to this day. The current (2002) UK Government web site states “Boundary markers are used to mark the boundary of a site where a natural boundary or fence does not exist”. A copy of the current specifications for a MOD Boundary Stone can be seen here, and it still carries the broad arrow. The Broad Arrow was used on guns, equipment and other Government Property to establish ownership.
Broad Arrow
The initials of organisation controlling the area of land. For military sites this was usually,
- BO for Board of Ordnance. In 1855 the Board of Ordnance was abolished as a result of its’ perceived failures in the Crimean War, and absorbed into the War Office. The War Office was created in 1857 under the Secretary at War.
- WD for War Department which replaced the Board of Ordnance.
- A for Admiralty, usually with an fouled anchor symbol. Often only the anchor symbol was used.
BO Marker
The images below are a selection of Boundary Stones from around the World. Many stones have now been lost and there a few sites where a complete sequence of Victorian boundary stones can be located.
A Selection of Boundary Stones
