Bulmer stone, Darlington, England
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cmiller38
N 54° 31.731 W 001° 33.189
30U E 593631 N 6043328
The Bulmer stone is the oldest landmark in the town of Darlington in the north east of England. It was left by the last ice age circa 10,000 b.c.
Waymark Code: WM13GQH
Location: North East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 12/11/2020
Views: 3
The Bulmer stone is the oldest landmark in the town of Darlington in the north east of England. It was left by the last ice age circa 10,000 b.c.
Currently sitting on a little iron shelf behind a iron fence. In front of the old central secondary school. a unique grade II listed building. On Northgate, Darlington.
The plaque reads as follows:
"The Bulmer Stone - Darlington's Oldest Landmark.
This boulder of shap granite was left here by the last ice age circa 10,000 B.C. Other erratics are scattered over the north east. At one time the stone marked the northern boundary of the town. It got it's name from Willy Bulmer, Borough Crier, in the early nineteenth century, who called out the London news when it arrived by stage-coach.
At one time it was known as the "battling stone" as the town weavers used to beat their flax on it."
It is said the it takes it's name from Willy Bulmer as he used to stand on it to call the news.
It is also associated with the following rhyme:-
In Darnton towne ther is a stane,
And most strange is yt to tell,
That yt turnes nine times round aboute
When yt hears ye clock strike twell.
It is also said the the famous George Stephenson ( a colliery manager from Northimberland) and Nicholas Wood ( a colliery manager from Northumberland) sat in the stone to re-tie their boots, having walked from Stockton to Darlington to see Edward Pease and to convince him of the benefits of steam locomotives. It was as a result of this meeting that the Pease's chose to appoint Stephenson as the chief engineer of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
In 1923 it was deemed a traffic hazard. That is when it was mounted on it's little iron shelf behind the fence.
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