Allied to the concept of the benchmark is the landmark, now chiefly understood to mean a notable building, landscape feature or other visual piece of notabilia by which a location can be remembered or found. Originally, however, landmarks were some sort of small marker, as permanent as possible, such as a pile of stones, which marked the boundaries of one's property. They were, of course, considered to be almost sacred; the Levitical laws in the Old Testament forbid removing your neighbor's landmark. There was once a custom called "beating the bounds". The head of the family, once a year or so, would take his oldest sons and a birch switch and they would tour the bounds of the property; whenever they reached a landmark, he would beat the sons so they would remember its location.
