A parting stone is a monument, usually of stone, to either: # Provide direction at a

fork in the road Fork in the road may refer to: * Fork (intersection), the point at which a road branches into two * Fork in the road (metaphor), a metaphor for making a decision Film and television * ''A Fork in the Road'' (TV series), a 1992–2006 Australia ...

—a ''parting'' of the way, or # Commemorate a final parting, as from a loved one.

Directions

alt=Roxbury Parting Stone of 1744, upright=.7, The 1744 Roxbury Parting Stone, fitted here with an iron stake from which a lantern could be hung A directing parting stone shows where each leg of a road fork leads. The earliest

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

legislation pertaining to guide-posts was on February 28, 1795. In it, the selectmen were required to erect guide-posts at the corners and angles of all roads in their towns and districts, Before that time, some individuals had set up roadside stones marking the distance or direction to some important town. Numerous such stones were set by Paul Dudley, Chief-Justice of Massachusetts, as they bear his name or initials. It was not uncommon for well-to-do eighteenth century men to place

milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

s by the roadside along main thoroughfares for the convenience of travelers. One well known example of a Dudley stone is the Roxbury Parting Stone, known locally as simply the Parting Stone. It is located near the Norfolk House, at the corner of Centre and Roxbury Streets, on Eliot Square. On its front or easterly face is inscribed , with the directions on the south and north faces of and respectively.

Memorials

A memorial parting stone may be erected, for example, at the departure point of a loved one's final journey. An example can be found in England's

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

Grisedale Tarn Grisedale Tarn is a tarn in the Lake District of England between Fairfield and Dollywagon Pike. It is the legendary resting place of the crown of the kingdom of Cumbria, after the crown was conveyed there in 945 by soldiers of the last king, ...

. Known as the Brothers Parting Stone, it marks the place at which

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

last saw his brother John.

Hardwicke Rawnsley Hardwicke Drummond Rawnsley (29 September 1851 – 28 May 1920) was an Anglican priest, poet, local politician and conservationist. He became nationally and internationally known as one of the three founders of the National Trust for Places of H ...

erected a stone in 1882 with the inscription: :Here did we stop; and here looked round :While each into himself descends, :For that last thought of parting Friends :That is not to be found. :Brother and friend, if verse of mine :Have power to make thy virtues known, :Here let a monumental Stone :Stand–sacred as a Shrine ''A Lake District Miscellany'', by Tom Holman © 2007 Tom Holma

References

{{reflist Street furniture Types of monuments and memorials Road transport

Directions

Memorials

See also

References