Wednesday 30 September 2009

Signposts (1)

The first in an occasional series of interesting signposts, this fine example stands on Angel Hill in the centre of Bury St Edmunds.

It was designed by the town council's architect, Basil Oliver, in 1935 and was probably the first internally-lighted road sign in the country. Such an extraordinary structure is all the more surprising when you consider that the Ministry of Transport granted special permission for this oddity, having issued regulations to standardise road signs only two years earlier.

3 comments:

Deptford Dame said...

oh dear, the proportions and aesthetics leave a lot to be desired! It looks rather like it was cobbled together in someone's garage!

CarolineLD said...

Shh, they're quite proud of it in Bury St Edmunds! (I can't disagree, though...)

Peter Ashley said...

Thanks for that. I've always wanted to know about its history. It's one of those special pieces of street furniture that one always looks out for in a town- like the cast-iron clock tower in the centre of Downham Market.