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Enthusiast wants to reinstate 1909 boundary posts

Dan AyersSomerset
BBC Two white signs on the floor, standing up, saying "Dorset" and "Somerset". There is a man with a beard crouching down next to them.BBC
Tim wants to reinstate the old boundary markings sign between Somerset and Dorset

A road sign enthusiast wants to reinstate cast-iron boundary posts which used to mark a county border in the 1900s.

Tim Beer from near Winsham, Somerset, rescues and restores roadside heritage signs dating back to the 1700s, and has two of the original posts that marked the line between Somerset and Dorset from 1909 until boundary changes in 1963.

He said he wants to use them to have more posts reproduced and hopes to return them to the places they once stood.

"We can't afford to lose our historical items. These markings are part of the road network and are important," he said.

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White road sign that says "Welcome to Somerset". There's a concrete road in the background and hedges and a field in the background. Blue skies and clouds in the background.
Many of the old boundary markings were replaced by road signs

"Luckily, I managed to find two markers. One of them, not the best, but I've refurbished it, and I can now use that as a pattern to get some more cast and put back on the side of the road.

"It's about £450 plus VAT per boundary marker to get them cast and then actually paint them up. So I'd like to do four and just preserve the history."

Beer has set up a crowdfunding page to try to raise some of the £2,000 he needs to do the work.

View in the background of a sunny road. There are blue skies in the distance and hills. The signpost in the foreground is a white fingerpost sign which reads "Wheddon Cross 3/4 and Exford 6".
Fingerpost signs are still common across Somerset and Dorset

Somerset and Dorset are both known for their heritage signs, as the counties still have the iconic white fingerpost signs on many roads.

Beer said that road signs are "still needed today as sat-navs fail all the time".

Two white signs on the floor, standing up, saying "Dorset" and "Somerset". They are standing up in a garage.
The boundary markings were originally made and erected in 1909

Katherine Barker is an historical geographer on the Somerset and Dorset border and has studied it for 20 years.

"There have been various changes to the border, but not many," she said.

"Before scale-mapping, it was essential that you knew where the border was. The shire had an important legal responsibility for everything.

"These markings are historical and important, especially in previous generations."

Dorset Council has been contacted for comment.

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