Village signs: The blacksmith's role

Shirley M. Addy

One of the most attractive products made by a blacksmith is the village sign. Apart from displaying a village name the signs, usually erected on a post in a prominent position, are emblems depicting local life; indeed it could be said that the village sign is a snapshot of local history and culture, each one unique to a particular village. It can be fascinating trying to discover what these signs are telling us about individual villages: some are easy to interpret while others may need research. Representations of famous local people, events and landmarks, and everyday village life combine to provide a rich seam of inspiration for the sign artist.
Norfolk was the birthplace of the village sign and still retains the highest concentration. The origin of the sign can be traced to Edward VII who commissioned signs for four villages on the Sandringham estate, while George V ordered signs for four more. In May 1920 the Duke of York (later George VI) made a speech at a Royal Academy banquet in which he said: 'The development of motor travelling has brought back to our highways some of the importance which they enjoyed in the old coaching days. I feel sure that many of my comrade motorists would welcome the revival of the village sign or emblem, as a help to the visitor in a strange land. The name of many a village would offer scope for the wit and humour of the artist. In the neighbourhood of Sandringham, village signs have been introduced with considerable success.'
On hearing of the Duke's speech, The Daily Mail organised a competition for the design of village signs offering generous cash prizes. Some 525 entries were received and an exhibition was mounted at Australia House, Strand, in October 1920 with 26 entries from all over the country were shortlisted. The winner was St Peter's, second Mayfield, third Battle, with six runners-up including Biddenden, Bromley and Widdecombe-in-the-Moor. Only Biddenden retains its original metal sign which depicts the famous Chulkhurst Siamese twins, although the sisters have had several changes of dress. Since the competition, many village signs have appeared with a proliferation of them around the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, the Millennium and the Golden Jubilee.
Village signs are nearly always a community affair, with a local group being formed to decide on the design, to raise funds, and to arrange the sign’s placement. The signs are sometimes used as a local icon by the media to mark the location of news being reported, providing wonderful advertising for the sign maker! At least one sign had its village name temporarily changed for a fictitious location in a television drama series.
Popular motifs include evocative scenes of village life, such as the farmer at his plough or the blacksmith at his anvil, reflecting the culture and heritage of a particular location. Interestingly, even though the blacksmith’s craft is still very much alive unlike the use of the horse-drawn plough, not all signs depicting blacksmiths are made of metal. The earliest were made of wood but as the supply of good quality wood diminished metal began to be used. Village signs that haven’t weathered well are often replaced in a more durable material such as iron or steel. Blacksmiths will not be surprised to learn that some of their signs still stand proudly many years after their erection although some may now be made from polyurethane or aluminium, which involves similar sand-casting techniques, as sign makers who started their trade as blacksmiths move to using these modern materials.
Discovering village signs can provide much pleasure and excitement to the driver or tourist, so much so that the Village Sign Society was founded in 1999 for fellow enthusiasts by Shirley M Addy and Maureen Long, writers and publishers of books on village signs, and its members include many sign makers. The Society has produced a national database of all known village signs, historic and present, complemented by a pictorial archive and providing the most exhaustive record of British village signs. Not only are these records invaluable for researchers but they also preserve details for posterity. Over 4,000 signs have now been recorded and the numbers continue to increase as new signs are unveiled throughout Britain. Some of these may be replacements incorporating a different design or just replicas in a more robust material. The Society also provides an advisory service for groups interested in acquiring a village sign and can direct them to a suitable sign maker.
VILLAGE SIGNS OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND WALES - ISBN 9780954 295066 -
Written by Shirley M Addy and Maureen Long, founders of the Village Sign Society -
Includes over 100 village signs from all parts of Britain, and each one is fully illustrated with its elements explained. On glossy paper with many colour photographs. £4.50.
Available from all bookshops, via internet www.alpublications.co.uk,
or by post (please add 50p postage) from AL Publications, 2 The Hazels, Wilpshire, Blackburn, BB1 9HZ

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