Early Mileage Marks - "140 BRIDGE / WATER"

The “140 BRIDGE / WATER” handstamp is known in use from 1785-1786. A two-line “BRIDGE / WATER” handstamp is known used from 1783 to 1786, possibly in concurrent usage with the mileage mark though it may have been used before and brought back into use after the Bridgwater mileage mark.

I do not currently have examples of the “115 CASTLE / CAREY”, “144 CHARD” or “141 ILMIN / STER” marks, so cannot illustrate them here – please do send me an image if you have a copy of any of these marks (or let me know if you have a copy you would like to dispose of).

Early Mileage Marks - "113 BATH"

In 1784 the Post Office introduced handstamps with the mileage to London on them, to aid post office clerks in determining the postal charges. These handstamps had a limited life as the mileage to London changed as the postal routes altered and after about five years the Post Office stopped issuing them.

By the end of the 18^th century the Postmaster General had instructed John Cary, a map-maker, to prepare a survey of all the principal roads in the country under the supervision of the Superintendent of Mail Coaches. This was used in the issue of the second series of mileage stamps from 1801.

Cat No	Type	Handstamp	Comments	Size (mm)	Colour	Dates	Rarity
SO 64	27	113 BATH	single line, taller “3”	33x6	Black	1784	F
65	26	BATH / 110	figures 6½ mm, round zero	26x16	Black	1784	F
66	26	BATH / 110	figures 6½ mm, oval zero	26x16	Black	1785-86	F
68	26	BATH / 110	figures 5mm high	25x14	Black	1786-87	F
217	27	140 BRIDGE / WATER		42x12	Black	1785-86	F
317	27	115 CASTLE / CAREY		42x13	Black	1784-85	G
339	27	144 CHARD	single line	40x5	Black	1786	F
391	27	135 CREWK / ERN		40x13	Black	1784-85	E
479	26	FROME / 107		38x15	Black	1786-88	E-F
550	27	141 ILMIN / STER		34x13	Black	1787-98	D
668	27	118 SHIPTON / MALLET	issued earlier	45x12	Black	1790-96	E
697	27	136 SOMER / TON		39x12	Black	1786-90	F
760	26	TAUNTON / 143		38x14	Black	1785-87	E-F
911	26	WELLS. / S. 123		24x13	Black	1785-87	E
1054	27	126 YEOVIL	single line	40x6	Black	1789-92	D

As can be seen from the table above, extracted from the Somerset County Catalogue, while the majority of the marks (9) are of the form 'mileage town', the remainder (6) are two line marks of the form 'town / mileage'.

The original mileage to London for Bath, 113, was very soon amended to 110 (by 1801 it had changed again to 109 miles to London).

Despite what it currently says on the Postal Museum website, the 1784 mileage marks were not introduced because the postal rates of 1784 charged based on the total distance that the mail travelled – that did not happen until the introduction of the 1796 rates on 5^th January 1797.  In 1784 postal charges were still based on the postal charge to London plus the postal charge onwards from London as two separate charges.  The postal rate change in January 1797, along with the survey of principal roads by John Cary, may well have been instrumental in causing the Post Office to re-introduce mileage marks in 1801.

The first mark above, “113 BATH” is currently the earliest known usage of an English mileage mark, on 14^th September 1784 (again correcting the information currently on the Postal Museum website).

I have already posted on the "BATH / 110" handstamps here.

Drimpton (Dorset)

Drimpton post office was open for three separate periods; from 1852 to 1866, from 1885 to 1900, and from 1927 to 1994.  It has come under Crewkerne, Bridport and Beaminster.

The sheet below has an example of the Drimpton UDC in blue (one of two currently recorded examples, the only one in blue) from May 1853.  The UDC was issued in June 1852 under Crewkerne.  By 1856 Drimpton was under Bridport, but the 1853 cover below appears to have come under Beaminster, with a Beaminster barred numeral cancel and double-arc dated handstamp on the reverse.

Buckhorn Weston (Dorset)

Buckhorn Weston in Dorset initially came under Bath (30 miles to its north) before transferring to Wincanton (4 miles north west), and then to Gillingham (4 miles east) in Dorset.

The sheet below has a Parcel Post Label from 1901 when it was under Bath and a Climax rubber cancel from 1911 when it was under Wincanton.

Great Western Railway Bath

Here are two items of mail that were conveyed by the Great Western Railway before going in the General Post.  As such they paid an additional fee for conveyance by the railway of double the general post rate, hence the 2d charge for the railway with the 1d charge for the normal post.

This first item is from 1894, and has post office cancels (3-bar vertical oval duplex cancels) on both the railway and the normal postage stamp.

The scond item is from 1908, and has G.W.R. cancels on both the stamps.

Bath Parcel Post - by road

The item below is a piece from a parcel from Bath to Westbury in June 1904, with a "BATH" target cancel, a Parcel Post Label and a framed "COACH / ROAD BORNE" cachet.

In 1852 the Post Office contracted with the railway companies for the transport of mail by rail.  In 1887 the Post Office started running horse-drawn carriages where the cost was less than by rail (the first service was from London to Brighton).  From 1898 motor vans started to be used.

The "COACH / ROAD BORNE" cachet was used to distinguish between those parcels carried by rail (for which a fee was due to the rail companies) and those carried by Post Office coaches.

East Anstey, Devon

East Anstey in Devon is four miles west of Dulverton and 13 miles north of Tiverton.  A post office is known from 1909 under Dulverton, where it remained until 1932 when it transferred to Tiverton.  The post office closed in 2000.

The top postcard below has an "EAST ANSTEY CAMP" skeleton postmark from July 1908.  It seems likely that East Anstey Camp came under Dulverton as the post office is known to come under Dulverton from 1909.

Milborne Port

The envelope below, addressed to Milborne Port, Somerset, has a cachet correcting the postal address.

Although Milborne Port is in Somerset, its correct postal address is Dorset (under Sherborne).

Queen Camel in the Sherborne Penny Post

A Receiving House at Queen Camel was established in 1828 in the Sherborne Penny Post, and it was issued with a boxed "No.3" handstamp.  The wrapper below went from Queen Camel to Sherborne in 1832.