Stanedge Pole

About

Stanedge Pole also known as Stanage Pole (grid reference SK2468784429) is a landmark on Hallam Moors close to Stanage Edge in South Yorkshire, England. Standing at a height of 438 metres (1,437 feet), it marks the border between Derbyshire and South Yorkshire and can be seen for several miles around. A pole has stood on the site since at least 1550.

Many initials have been carved into the rock that supports it, and five can be identified as initials of the parish road surveyors who renewed the pole when needed. "T.C. 1550", "H.W.

1581", "T.M. 1631", "H.H. 1697" and "F.N.

1740" are the marks of the parish surveyors and the date the pole was renewed. The pole is a way marker on a medieval packhorse road known as the Long Causeway or Long Causey which runs west from Sheffield. It was used for centuries as a boundary marker between the parishes of Sheffield, Hathersage and Ecclesfield.

Although it is widely believed the Long Causeway follows the line of a Roman road that ran from Templeborough Roman fort to the fort at Navio (Brough-on-Noe), archaeologists have cast doubt on this. There is some suggestion that the pole also marks the old boundary between Mercia and Northumberland. The...