'Counties' Category
Ashingdon, Essex
This sign commemorates two major events in Ashingdon’s history. In 1016, King Canute (or Cnut) was in retreat and met Edmund Ironside, King of England in battle here. Thanks to the failings of one of Edmund’s men, Canute won a great victory. Edmund was forced to partition the country, giving the north to Canute. [...]
Empingham, Rutland
This attractive sign shows a dove leaving the dovecote to fly over the village church and nearby thatched cottages. Empingham lies just to the east of Rutland Water, which was originally called Empingham Reservoir, but was renamed Rutland Water to preserve the name of the county which was being merged with Leicestershire.
The Battle of Empingham [...]Cottenham, Cambridgeshire
This sign almost looks like an oil painting, depicting 4 different rural scenes of old. The name of the village actually doesn’t stand out as much as appears in the picture above, when looked at head-on, it’s almost invisible! Driving past in the car, I almost missed this one as I assumed it was a [...]
Whitchurch, Bucks
A wooden Millenium sign, showing the church of St James. Carved by a local craftsman, the sign was erected on New Years Day 2000.
Whitchurch (one of nearly a dozen villages so-named in the UK) is a small, but surprising village with several springs one of which, ‘Fair Alice Spring’, rises out from beneath the site [...]Windlesham, Surrey
A simple metalwork sign with hanging baskets which bring a bit of colour to the scene.
Like much of Surrey Heath, Windlesham was once part of Windsor Great Forest and developed as a traditional farming community centred around several manors and the church. Today, Windlesham is a secluded village of heathland, woods and nursery gardens, containing [...]Wymington, Beds
This sign seems to be celebrating a centenary of some kind. I’ve not found anything on this in a web search, if I do, then I’ll update this page. The sign displays the local church, St Lawrence which was originally built by John Curteys around 1380AD. His canopied altar tomb lies between the chancel and [...]
Stradishall, Suffolk
The obvious motif on this sign is the aircraft, which commemorates the nearby RAF base, built in 1938. Also present are the village church, the usual agricultural references, and a rather splendid pheasant.
The airfield closed in 1970 and is now the site of Highpoint category C prison. The site of the airfield remains [...]Lidgate, Suffolk
This sign was sadly showing signs of damage at the time of my visit, and was in need of repair. The main motifs depicted are:
The Church set on the hill in a Bailey of a Norman Castle.
The Bailey Pond, home to a variety of bird life, and well stocked with fish.
The Figure of a 14th [...]Great Blakenham, Suffolk
Situated at the south end of the village at a road junction, this sign depicts the River Gipping, the local church and two other local buildings that I have no information on at this time. Despite only being raised in the mid 1990s, the metalwork on the sign already has some interesting lichen growth.
At the [...]Brandon, Suffolk
Situated in the main market square outside the Flint Knapper public house, this sign depicts three flint knappers – a trade that dominated the town for many years. Grimes Graves flint mines are only a couple of miles north of the town. There is a comprehensive history of the town on the Brandon Heritage site.
Brandon [...]