Archive for December, 2007
Harston, Cambs
This sign is situated on the now much-dimished green (a small patch of grass on a road junction). A honey skip (beehive) and rookery are depicted, whilst the lower half of the sign refers to the fact that the village is well supplied with excellent water, derived from many artesian wells and springs in the [...]
Great Staughton, Cambs
Great Staughton consists of three distinct areas: The Highway (where the village sign is located), the Town, and the Moor.
I suspect the sign shows all three of these areas, as the 13thC St Andrew’s Church is in the Town, the Sundial (dated to 1637) is on the Highway close to the sign, and the [...]Gamlingay, Cambs
Front and back of this sign have slightly different designs, but St Mary’s Church, the most impressive in the area according to Pevsner, appears on both.
The name of the village is from the Saxon, “Gamlin’s Hae” or Gamlin’s Island, as the area at one time was quite marshy. A great fire in 1660 destroyed [...]Cheveley, Cambs
Cheveley is close to Newmarket and the Cheveley Stud, and this connection is shown on the sign by the presence of the horse and foal.
The village boasts a 12thC flint-built church, with an unusual octagonal tower and attached Barbican (also depicted on the sign), and also the remains of a ruined castle. Chevely Park [...]Arrington, Cambs
Arrington village sits just off of Ermine Street, a few miles north of Royston.
The village church of St Nicholas, which sits high above the village, is depicted upon the sign. The figure shown doesn’t meet the usual image of ‘St Nick’, but looks more Roman – possibly an acknowledgement of the nearby Roman Road?
Arrington Parish [...]Wing, Bucks
A millenium sign, dated 2000, but the paint was sadly starting to flake on one side at the time of our visit (update: on a later visit the sign was in the process of being repainted).
The Saxon Church is shown, along with what I assume is Ascott House, a local National Trust property formerly [...]Soulbury, Bucks
The sign depicts the view from near to the village inn, ‘The Boot’, looking toward the church which sits on a rise with commanding views to the south.
The stone in the middle of the road on Chapel Hill is reputed to roll down the hill every night when the clock strikes twelve.
Soulbury Village OS [...]Olney, Bucks
Located in the main marketplace, the sign depicts the annual Olney Pancake Race. The sign was commissioned by Olney & District Society and designed by Tom Hancock.
According to legend, the race was first run in 1445, and is now run from the Market Place to a point midway down Church Lane – a distance of [...]Stagsden, Beds
A relatively new sign, this sits outside the church of this small village to the east of Bedford, now bypassed by the A422.
No sight of any stags, or their dens, but then that may have been too obvious!
Whilst the bypass was being constructed, [...]Silsoe, Beds
Located alongside the parish church, at the junction of the approach road to Wrest Park Gardens. Both the Church and Wrest Park House feature on the sign, as does the village lock-up, built in 1796 of ironstone with a stout door and a narrow slit window. The sign is dated for the Millenium on [...]