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Restoring Somerset’s historic signposts
We are proud to offer funding to help Parish Councils restore historic signposts across Somerset
Modern road signage was introduced across England in the 1960s but Somerset was one of just four counties that did not remove their old fingerpost signs. As a result, we now have a wonderful back catalogue of these iconic and much loved features. Unfortunately, Somerset County Council no longer has the funds to repair these signposts. This means they are slowly deteriorating unless local communities are able to take on their maintenance.
In 2018 we received a grant from the Hinkley C Community Fund to spend in Parishes within a 10 mile radius of Hinkley C over 2 years. Thanks to the pandemic, things took a bit longer than planned but the project is now complete and we were able to help with the restoration of 20 fingerposts across 5 parishes.
Stogursey Parish have restored 16 posts in their parish and we have supported work on 6 of them and we have funded work on a further 4 in Woolavington and one in Mark. We helped with 5 posts in Williton and 4 in Spaxton. It is down to the determination and hard work of Parish Council volunteers that these wonderful landmarks have been restored to their former glory.
CPRE Somerset has now committed a small fund each year to keep the project going – and this time we are helping Parishes Councils across the whole county. In 2023 we helped with the restoration of 4 posts in Marston Magna and Fivehead and so far in 2024, we have helped with 1 post in Milborne Port, with more on their way.
If you know of a traditional cast iron Somerset fingerpost in need of some TLC, please get in touch on admin@cpresomerset.org.uk and we will explain how to apply for our funding in 2024.
