FOR many people today they are just curiosities - but the waymarkers that dot the roads and lanes of Yorkshire once had an important role to play.

Be they milestones, fingerposts or any other design, they were once compulsory and gave travellers the distances and directions they needed.

They helped coaches keep to schedule and were even used to calculate postal charges before the introduction of a uniform postal rate.

Now English Heritage is backing a scheme to help protect Yorkshire's traditional waymarkers, many of which date back hundreds of years.

A £12,000 grant has been allocated to the Milestone Society's Yorkshire region to create an innovative website, detailing the county's 1,200 surviving waymarkers, complete with locations and photographs.

The funds will also help pay for an architect to draw up a good-practice guide on their maintenance and repair, and support a one-day conference in York, on May 18.

The Milestone Society has championed the cause of waymarkers since it was founded five years ago.

There are 324 of the markers in Yorkshire that are legally protected.

English Heritage's building inspector, Trevor Mitchell, said: "The new website, conservation guidance and conference will help raise the profile of milestones, not just amongst the public, but with highways engineers and local authorities, who are ultimately responsible for their repair and preservation.

"Until now, too many have been literally passed by, and their contribution to our historic landscape not fully appreciated.

"They are a significant and beautiful aspect of our streets, roads and country lanes and merit conservation and care."

The Milestone Society's national treasurer and Yorkshire project manager, Jan Scrine, said: "We are very lucky to have so many milestones and other waymarkers left in our region.

"Mostly cast iron or local stone, they are at risk from road chemicals, mechanical grass-cutters and vandalism."

He added : "We are delighted that English Heritage is supporting us so generously in our efforts to tell people more about these fascinating artefacts and their part in our history."

The website is due to go live by the end of April.