Bishopston Fundamental Benchmark
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Bishopston Fundamental Benchmark by Hywel Williams as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Bishopston Fundamental Benchmark
Image: © Hywel Williams Taken: 26 May 2009
Pam the penguin shows us what to expect to see when looking for a Fundamental Benchmark. On two sides of the pillar are plaques presented by the Ordnance Survey stating that this is indeed still important to modern surveying. In Wales one plaque is in Welsh and the other is in English - expect just English in England. The centre of the rosette on the top of the small concrete structure has been levelled with a height of 70.7086 metres - just under Pam's left foot! Many of these structures, that look like miniature trig points are surrounded by "play pens" - metallic fences to protect the structure from damage, which shows how important these were and still are to modern surveying. These fundamental bench marks also go down all the way to bedrock, however far that requires. This one was protected from immediate damage I guess by the fact that it was on top of a grassy knoll. And guarded by a penguin ;)
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
51.584463
Longitude
-4.05962