Todays brew spot :- Grid ref :- SD944471, Lat:53:55:15N , Lon:2:05:10W
Looking to Boulsworth Hill
It is thought that Robert Wilson was the chief beacon guard at Pinhaw in 1805. He and his two helpers had a small hut about 30m from the beacon, the footings of which can still be traced. During the winter of 1804-05 there was severe weather that trapped the men in their huts for a lengthy period. Provisions were running low and Robert volunteered to try and reach Moor Side Farm to replenish them. Despite pleas from his helpers to wait until the weather broke he set off with his bag and his milk can never to be seen alive again. His body was discovered a short time later some 150m from the shelter. A stone was erected on the spot where he was found but whether this is his actual burial site is a mystery. The inscription, faded but still legible, reads
Here was found dead the
Body of Robert Wilson, one
of the beacon Guards, who
Died Jan 29th, 1805, aged
69 years
During the long Wars with Napoleonic France at the end of the 18th and beginning of the
19th centuries, the danger of the French invasion was most acute in the summer of 1803.
The French armies massed on the Channel Coast, and rebellion was stirred up in Ireland.
Measures were taken throughout Britain to combat an enemy invasion. Volunteer
regiments were raised, led by the local gentry. To call out these men, and to prepare the
general populace for invasion, a communication system was devised, consisting of chains of
fire beacons, each with a guard hut. These were manned usually by old soldiers equipped
with telescopes, whose duty it was to keep an eye on neighbouring beacons are to light
their own in the event of an invasion.
It is thought that, to reduce the chance of false alarms, three beacons in each county were
designated as primary stations; no others were supposed to be fired until these were seen to
be lit. The chains of beacons were linked across county boundaries, and were only to be set
alight on the orders of the general in charge of the military district in which they lay.
Makes you think only 204 years ago and comunication was a fire on a hill top ?
cheers all Danny
Looking to Boulsworth Hill
It is thought that Robert Wilson was the chief beacon guard at Pinhaw in 1805. He and his two helpers had a small hut about 30m from the beacon, the footings of which can still be traced. During the winter of 1804-05 there was severe weather that trapped the men in their huts for a lengthy period. Provisions were running low and Robert volunteered to try and reach Moor Side Farm to replenish them. Despite pleas from his helpers to wait until the weather broke he set off with his bag and his milk can never to be seen alive again. His body was discovered a short time later some 150m from the shelter. A stone was erected on the spot where he was found but whether this is his actual burial site is a mystery. The inscription, faded but still legible, reads
Here was found dead the
Body of Robert Wilson, one
of the beacon Guards, who
Died Jan 29th, 1805, aged
69 years
During the long Wars with Napoleonic France at the end of the 18th and beginning of the
19th centuries, the danger of the French invasion was most acute in the summer of 1803.
The French armies massed on the Channel Coast, and rebellion was stirred up in Ireland.
Measures were taken throughout Britain to combat an enemy invasion. Volunteer
regiments were raised, led by the local gentry. To call out these men, and to prepare the
general populace for invasion, a communication system was devised, consisting of chains of
fire beacons, each with a guard hut. These were manned usually by old soldiers equipped
with telescopes, whose duty it was to keep an eye on neighbouring beacons are to light
their own in the event of an invasion.
It is thought that, to reduce the chance of false alarms, three beacons in each county were
designated as primary stations; no others were supposed to be fired until these were seen to
be lit. The chains of beacons were linked across county boundaries, and were only to be set
alight on the orders of the general in charge of the military district in which they lay.
Makes you think only 204 years ago and comunication was a fire on a hill top ?
cheers all Danny
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