Villagers are being urged to act now to save their heritage.

The message comes from Linton Parish Council, which, 18 months ago, began a community project to look at the boundary stones around its parish borders. Volunteers were surprised to find just how many marker stones existed, but were also saddened by the poor state many were in.

Jerry Whitmarsh, vice-chairman of the council, said: “The current series of OS maps has 11 boundary stones marked for Linton, but we thought there might be more and indeed it turned out that there were.

“Because the boundary of Linton has changed several times over the centuries, we have more than you might expect for a relatively small parish.

“So far, by examining maps back to the 1870 OS series, we have found 62 stones marked on the maps, of which we have so far located 32 on the ground. We believe there may still be more to find.

“Quite a number of these stones were in very poor condition or were uprooted and in danger of being lost forever.”

Volunteers have begun the work of protecting the stones, which in some cases involved rescuing them from ditches and, where possible, putting uprooted ones back in the ground.

Mr Whitmarsh has also contacted other villages in the borough, urging them to begin similar projects.

He said: “We believe that if we had not begun this project when we did, many of these irreplaceable pieces of our historical heritage would have been lost for ever.

“It came as a complete surprise to us to discover how many boundary markers we possessed, and to see what a poor and vulnerable condition some of them were in.

“In this digital age, I doubt that such local boundary markers will ever again be put into the ground. It would be such a great pity to let the ones that remain moulder away, or end up as house signs, or worse.”

Mr Whitmarsh said the work was not arduous. He said: “We are working to a relaxed timetable, and it is a purely voluntary activity. Total expenditure to date is nil! But we have all had a lot of fun finding and preserving perhaps the oldest and most hidden part of Linton parish’s historical heritage.”