Fingerposts in Dorset
Dorset examples
There are in the region of 1000 fingerposts in existence across Dorset and over 700 have so far been recorded by Dorset County Council as part of their GIS database.
As a rule fingerposts in Dorset today consist of:
- Round metal posts painted grey
- Posts topped with roundels, in the same form as the London Underground sign, containing the following information:
- top half-moon gives the highway authority name (written either as 'Dorset' or 'Dorset C.C.')
- bottom half-moon states the six-figure grid reference
- horizontal banner through the middle states the junction name of location (this was, according to the County Council archaeologist, an addition to the design in the late 1940s or early 1950s)
- Wooden arms for destination names. Original post-war design had rounded ends, more recent replacements have triangular ends
- Mileage to the destinations are given to the nearest quarter mile. Values of less than a mile are affixed using ready-made pieces of wood with the required half, quarter or three-quarters already in place
Fingers appear to be of any width neccessary but there tends to only be one finger per direction. The giving of distances does not appear as standard.
There are examples of intriguing (accidental?) spellings ('Winterborne St Martinstown' rather than 'Winterborne St Martin' or 'Martinstown', as the village is known) and instances where letters have been missed off ('Marswood' instead of the proper spelling, 'Marshwood'. Due to the age of the signs, there are some examples where place names have changed since the sign was placed (eg 'Portisham' as opposed to today's 'Portesham' and 'Allweston' as opposed to today's 'Alweston'.
Fingerposts painted red with white text exist at three junctions within the Dorset - all known as 'Red Post':
- Anderson on the A35 between Bere Regis and Winterborne Zelston
- Poyntington on the B3145 between Sherborne and Wincanton
- Benville Bridge on the unclassified C29 between Evershot and Rampisham Down
There is no agreement and little evidence to support theories as to why they are so coloured; it has been argued that it is to mark the route taken by prisoners being transported to Australia or gibbet locations [Blackham 1996].
A limited number of examples (at least four) exist in the county of the green 'drift road' fingerposts - south of Todber, in Ibberton and at Ansty.
Original fingerposts are often battered, poorly maintained or have lost arms unless locally maintained by parishes or individuals. This is described as 'extremely unfortunate as this type of sign is very rare and is a contribution to local distinctiveness' [Dorset County Council 1999]. Roundels have often been stolen and not replaced due to the costs of using local foundries.
Recent fingerpost history in Dorset
A prototype design for replacement was adopted by Dorset County Council in 1996 which would:
- Comply with current legislation
- Retain the traditional appearance of fingerposts
- Be low maintenance, and vandal and theft resistant
- Involve readily availbale materials
- Provide adequate information for road users
The prototype design is now in place in selected parts of the county using aluminium fingers, always with triangular ends, upper-case Transport Heavy font and sometimes with 'brown sign' style fingers, which can appear incongruous.