A once-lost boundary stone, a ‘golden momento’ of Maidenhead’s history, has gone on display at the town’s Heritage Centre after being unearthed by volunteers.
The near-century-old stone, one piece of ‘the abiding mystery of Maidenhead’, was found damaged in a roadside ditch and brought to the heritage centre this month.
Boundary stones were laid down at 48 locations around the perimeter of the then-borough border in 1934, but over time many have been lost to nature and development.
Eddie Piekut, one of the Stone Seekers on a mission to crack the mystery of the missing stones, said unearthing the lost stone was ‘smashing’.
He added: “I’m not saying it’s got the enthusiasm of Tutankhamun or buried treasure – but it is a little golden memento of our town.
“The stones are part of the town.”
The Stone Seekers are members of Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club and Maidenhead Civic Society, on a mission to preserve the boundary stones and crack the mystery of those missing.
The seekers excavated a damaged Stone 13 from a roadside bank in Windsor Road last year.
This month, the seekers returned to the site to begin the difficult task of moving the near 135kg stone to its new home at Maidenhead Heritage Centre.
Plans are in the works to replace that one with stone 18 – another recently rediscovered boundary stone, found being used as a garden step at a property in Maidenhead Road.
Work to find the other missing stones, however, continues.
“The abiding mystery of Maidenhead is, where these 48 stones are,” Mr Piekut said.
“We can identify some, but we can’t identify the rest.
“Maybe one or two we know have been replaced, and we know one or two have been buried – you’ll never find them because they’re underground.”
The boundary of Maidenhead was formerly walked as part of an annual tradition called Beating the Bounds which last took place in 1974.
Walkers, including the Mayor of Maidenhead, would traverse the route and tap the stones with a ceremonial mace. It was thought that the ‘beating’ would help to ward off spirits.
Now that walk is trodden by thousands each year on the Maidenhead Boundary Walk.
The annual walk raises money for charity and, this year, takes place on October 5.
Mr Piekut, also the co-chair of Maidenhead Boundary Walk, said having stone 13 on display was an important reminder of the town’s history.
He said: “It’s lovely because, a couple of things, it is our heritage and it highlights the walk itself.
“It does reflect the boundaries of Maidenhead and I think it’s a great thing to do, particularly for kids to understand their place, their home.
“That’s part of the reason we do it [the boundary walk], so they’ve got a sense of place.”
Maidenhead Heritage Centre chairman Alan Mellins said he was ‘very pleased’ to have ‘such a historical monument’ on display.
The heritage centre is open Tuesday to Saturday and for more information on the Boundary Walk visit maidenheadbridgerotary.org.uk
