Fingerpost Restoration Project
The 13 traditional cast iron fingerposts in Shepton Montague Parish have now been restored to their original glory. Pictured are some of the team involved in the Fingerpost Restoration Project who met at the fingerpost by the Montague Inn to celebrate the completion of the project, which began in 2018.
In the last 3 years a great deal of hard work has been carried out by an enthusiastic band of volunteers, involving dismantling, sanding, removing layers of paint, repainting and re-assembling and re-inforcing. Many thanks go to Andrew Wiley (who led the project initially), Paul Williams, John Hill, Richard Ellis, John Sykes, Brian Hunter and Michael Holmes for all this hard and sometimes very challenging work.
Some posts were in such poor condition or had bits missing such that they had to be replaced completely. Several finials and fingers were re-cast at Somerset Forge in Wells and shotblasting and welding were carried out at West End Garage in Bruton.
NB. The photos show the original state of each post before restoration. We originally thought we had 14 fingerposts in the parish but number 13 above was found to be just outside the parish and therefore the responsibility of Charlton Musgrove.
The total outlay for restoring all 13 fingerposts was over £4,000. This amount covered the cost of materials used by our unpaid volunteers and the bills from the forge and garage. It has been met from a £1,000 grant from SSDC, Parish Council funds and generous donations from Sean O'Callaghan, Emily Estates, Sarah Maude, and Siobhan and Neil Micklethwaite.
We are lucky to have such lovely fingerposts as Somerset is one of the few counties to still have them. In 1940, following the outbreak of World War 2 the Ministry of Transport ordered the removal of all direction signs with concerns that they would aid an enemy invasion. After the war Somerset County Council embarked on a programme of renewing them but in 1964, under the Traffic Sign Regulations, existing traffic signs had to be replaced and the erection of new cast iron fingerposts was no longer permitted. Local authorities were encouraged to remove their existing posts but a few did not, notably Cumberland, Dorset, Sussex and Somerset. Somerset compromised by painting the posts mid-grey to conform to the new colour standards. They had previously been either white (1921-1933) or black and white striped (1933-1964). Evidence of these old colour schemes was being revealed when they were being stripped for re-painting. Sadly Somerset County Council no longer take responsibility for maintaining the fingerposts but hopefully they will now last a good few more decades.
