BENCH-MARK

bench-mark, a surveyor's mark cut in stone or some durable material, to indicate a point in a line of levels for the determination of altitudes over a given district. the name is taken from the "angle-iron" which is inserted in the horizontal incision as a "bench" or support for the levelling staff. the mark of the "broad-arrow" is generally incised with the bench-mark so that the horizontal bar passes through its apex. bench table (fr. _banc_; ital. _sedile_; ger. _bank_), the stone seat which runs round the walls of large churches, and sometimes round the piers; it very generally is placed in the porches.