Public Monument and Sculpture Association National Recording Project
Biggin Hill Village Sign Photograph
Region ID | UEL | |
Work ID | 134 | |
Manual Reference | BR021 | |
Title | Biggin Hill Village Sign | |
Not Known | T.J. Systems and Solutions | |
Designer | Clark, Stewart | |
Not Known | Claymead Signs | |
Date of design | ||
Year of unveiling | 1998 | |
Unveiling details | Saturday 31 October 1998 | |
Road | Main Road | |
Precise Location | On a small green near the war memorial at junction with Jail Lane | |
A to Z Ref | 141 8H | |
OS Ref | ||
Postcode | TN16 | |
Work is | Extant | |
Listing Status | Don't know | |
Duty of Care | ||
Commissioned by | ||
Notes | ||
Cut out black metal sign set on a square wooden post. It is set in a small square of red paviours. It depicts three aricraft flying upwards in the rays of the sun beneath the name, Biggin Hill. On the skyline are a tower, a church and a cedar tree. There is a ploughed field, and a badger and fox in the landscape. Stylised representations. | ||
The original suggestion for the sign came from a local resident, Ken Addis, at the AGM of the Biggin Hill and District Residents Association in 1994. Ideas were developed by pupils at Charles Darwin School and through questionnaires locally. Stewart Clark, Urban Designer of the London Borough of Bromley, was responsible for the design and preparing the tender, and the Association paid half the costs. The sign was unveiled by the Mayor of Bromley, Councillor Peter Ayres, on Saturday 31 October 1998.(1) | ||
The aeroplanes depicted are two spitfires and a hurricane, planes which were used during World War Two and would have taken off from the Biggin Hill airfield. One of each of these planes is preserved outside the airfield memorial chapel. Biggin Hill played a very important part in the Battle of Britain. The church with its separate tower is St Marks, the 'moving church', which was rebuilt after it was destroyed in the war using (another church?) The cedar tree is one of the 'Great Trees of London' and is sited in Aperfield Road.(1) The animals represent local wildlife. | ||
circa | ||
raw year | 1998 | |
Condition | Good | |
At risk | No known risk | |
Inscriptions | In cut-out letters at the top of the sign: BIGGIN HILL | |
Signatures | ||
Elements
Element Details
Part of work | Material | Dimensions |
|---|---|---|
Sign | Mild steel | 122cm high x 108cm wide |
Post | Oak? | 325cm high x 20cm square |
Assessment of Condition
Surface Character
Detail | Comment |
|---|---|
No damage | |
Structural Condition
Structural Condition | Comment |
|---|---|
None | |
Vandalism
Vandalism | Comment |
|---|---|
None | |
