Summary

A guidepost, dating to the late 19th century to early 20th century, designed and cast by W H Smith and Co (Whitchurch) Ltd.

Description

Guidepost, late-C19 to early-C20, designed and cast by W H Smith and Co (Whitchurch) Ltd.

MATERIALS: cast iron

DESCRIPTION: the hollow cast-iron octagonal shaft has a lower vertical section that forms a plinth, with an upper tapered section rising off a plain torus base and capped by a simple moulded cornice. A narrower round-section shaft rises above the cornice and supports three cast-iron direction fingers, with raised black-painted sans serif capital letters, on a white background. These read: MOBBERLEY / ROSTHERNE; RINGWAY / WILMSLOW; HALE / ALTRINGHAM. The fingers have scalloped outer corners, an integral spandrel bracket, and paired cast shaft hoops secured by locking nuts. A ball finial in the form of a pawn chess piece caps off the top of the hollow shaft that supports the fingers.

History

Guideposts or fingerposts were once a very common roadside feature throughout the United Kingdom, providing directions for travellers at junctions and, in some cases, distances as well. From the 1860s onwards their numbers grew, particularly following the County Council Act of 1888. The Motor Car Act of 1903 passed responsibility for the provision of all traffic signs to local authorities and increased standardisation of design followed the issuing of design guidance by the Local Government Board in 1904. With the introduction of motor cars, increased legibility became of paramount importance; in 1921 the Ministry of Transport advocated the standardisation of black lettering on white backgrounds, and in 1933, new rules came into force that required the lettering on the fingers to be black capital letters set against a white background; the fingers to have straight corners, and that the posts to which the fingers were attached, should have a black and white paint scheme.

The increase in road traffic following the First World War brought about a further change, which resulted in new or replacement fingerposts being required to display the road classification and number. Cast-iron plates displaying the road numbers were also often attached to earlier fingerposts, using connectors or clamps. During the Second World War, the direction fingers were removed from the fingerposts as an anti-invasion contingency, to confuse any would-be invaders. Post-war most were re-instated, but not all. After 1965, new standardised graphic aluminium signs were introduced under the auspices of the Worboys Committee, resulting in most fingerposts and cast-iron signs being taken down and sold for scrap.

Map regression shows that there has been a guidepost at the junction of Castle Mill Lane and Tanyard Lane since at least 1936. The current guidepost is situated on the grassed traffic island opposite to Tanyard Cottage and Lane End, adjacent to Tanyard Farm. It was designed and cast by W H Smith and Co (Whitchurch) Ltd and was once of a common type used throughout Cheshire. The company traded from 1842 until 1937, and this guidepost was certainly produced before 1922, after which it was a requirement for road classification numbers to be displayed on the direction fingers. Guideposts cast with hexagonal profiles, scolloped fingers, and a pawn finial probably date to the late-C19. The design has several features that distinguishes it from guideposts produced elsewhere in the country, including the chess pawn style finial, the cast fingers with spandrel brackets, and the scalloped ends of the fingers.

Reasons for Listing

The guidepost at the junction of Castle Mill Lane and Tanyard Lane, Ashley, East Cheshire, late-C19 to early-C20, is listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* the guidepost has a high level of intrinsic design interest, with fingers displaying raised sans serif lettering, scalloped outer corners, integral spandrel brackets, and a chess piece pawn finial;
* as an example of an evolving guidepost design by W H Smith and Co (Whitchurch) Ltd that shows evidence of standardisation in response to the County Council Act of 1888, Motor Car Act of 1903, and guidance by the Local Government Board in 1904 and 1921, and the Ministry of Transport rules introduced in 1922 and in 1933;
* a rare example of a once ubiquitous form of street furniture, most of which were removed after 1964.

Historic interest:

* as an important part of the history of road transport in England and erected at a time when there was a rapid growth in motor travel, which required clear directional information for motorists.

Group value:

* the guidepost has a strong functional and spatial group value with two other guideposts in Ashley Parish.

Recommended Books

• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)