Lines on a map

A while ago I went on a local history course - it was brilliant and, like blipfoto, opened my eyes to my surroundings.

On one exercise we opened up our large scale local Ordnance Survey maps and were asked to outline our parish boundary. While we were doing this the tutor was talking about the history of parishes and why they were particular shapes. It was as she was telling us that it used to be the custom to plant an oak tree where a parish boundary crossed a route from one settlement to another that my pencil reached Mark Oak Gate, where the boundary between the parishes of Bookham and Fetcham in Surrey crosses the road from Fetcham to Stoke d'Abernon! There are plenty of oak trees at the spot but none looks so very venerable that it could have been the ancient "mark oak". A few cottages and a National Trust car park are all there is to mark a place of tiny historical significance.