Fingerpost at junction of B4077 and Church Lane

Summary

Fingerpost; probably early C20. Originally fitted with a post box; removed late C20.

Reasons for Designation

The early C20 fingerpost at Toddington is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* an unusual and distinctive design, including direction arms in the form of pointing hands and well-detailed ashlar base.

Historic interest:
* as a once common, but now increasingly rare item of street furniture which serves as a reminder of the importance of well-marked transport routes for the movement of goods and people.

History

Guideposts or fingerposts were once a 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 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 and, with the introduction of motor cars, increased legibility became of paramount importance, with black lettering on white backgrounds being accepted as the best colour scheme.

The fingerpost at Toddington is situated on the south side of the B4077, a former turnpike road that was established between Tewkesbury and Stow-on-the-Wold by Act of Parliament in 1726. It appears to date from the early C20 since it is not depicted on historic maps until 1924 (Ordnance Survey map, revised 1921). One source (Historic Milestone Society) however, attributes an C18 date and suggests that the fingerpost was erected by the County Council. It is not to a standardised design and is located on land that was formerly part of the Toddington Estate and not at a significant road junction. It is possible that it was made for Hugh Andrews and his wife Isabella, owners of Toddington Manor from 1900 to 1936, who undertook improvements to the estate. The fingerpost’s direction arms, with their pointing hands, are naïve in character and in the tradition of folk art, and it is possible that they were made by the estate’s blacksmith. A wall-mounted post box was housed within the stone base of the fingerpost; depicted as ‘L.B’ (for letter box) on the 1924 Ordnance Survey map but was removed in the late C20 and the void infilled with masonry.

The fingerpost is adjacent to a cast-iron kissing gate that opens onto a footpath heading south-west to Toddington Mill, known as Mill Cottages until the mid- to late C20, by the River Isbourne.

Details

Fingerpost; probably early C20. Originally fitted with a post box; removed late C20.

MATERIALS
Ashlar, and cast and sheet iron.

DESCRIPTION
The fingerpost consists of an ashlar base, approximately 1m square, with a plinth and a chamfered capping stone. The plinth is surmounted by a circular cast-iron finial fitted with three painted direction arms made probably from sheet iron beaten into the form of pointing hands. These indicate Stow-on-the-Wold, Tewkesbury and Toddington in black painted lettering.

Sources

Books and journals
Toddington Manor, The Residence of Mr. Hugh Andrews in Country Life, (30 April 1904), 630-635

Websites
Fingerpost at main road junction with Church Lane, S side of village, Historic Milestone Society Database, accessed 13 February 2024 from https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=3381752&resourceID=1972

Other
Map of the Parish of Toddington in the County of Gloucester, 1847
Ordnance Survey, Gloucestershire XIII.15, survey 1921, published 1924. Six-inch

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