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A horizontal bar above a broad arrow, chiselled into stone.
Also known as: Benchmark cut mark, OS bench mark, Broad arrow benchmark, Arrow with a line on top
A cut bench mark is an arrow with a horizontal bar above it, and the bar is the datum — the height refers to the bar's upper surface, not to the arrow. A levelling staff was rested on a bracket fitted into the notch, so the mark is a mounting point as well as a record.
Denotes a levelling reference point cut into masonry, its height recorded relative to the national vertical datum.
Contexts: Maps
Takes its height from the horizontal bar rather than from the arrow: the bar's upper surface is the reference, and a staff bracket was seated in the notch.
Contexts: Maps
Belongs to a network Ordnance Survey no longer maintains, so a mark's published height may no longer be reliable even though the mark survives.
Contexts: Maps
Uses the broad arrow, the mark of British government property, which is why the same arrow appears on unrelated Crown items.
Contexts: Maps
A horizontal groove cut into stone with three short lines meeting beneath its centre to form an upward-pointing arrow, all chiselled in low relief.