The Village Sign

The Village Sign is an initiative of the Rural Society to use some of its funds to achieve its goals of preserving the identity of the village and encouraging a community spirit.

After the success of the sign at Groombridge, the Rural Society, through its sub-committee of Chris May, Peter Smith and Angela Moss, contacted Roy Harvey who was responsible for the design and installation of their sign, initially with the idea of gaining advice on how to proceed. Roy accepted a commission to design and construct our sign and his first task was to research the village to gather things of interest for the design. Along with some suggestions from the committee he made considerable reference to Leonora Hayne’s booklet “Langton Green in Bygone Days” and his first drawing was accepted with minor alterations.

The sign will be single sided showing a smuggler, a gibbet, a quintain, and two characters of Royal connections and of course the Kent badge. The lettering for Langton Green and Kent will be in gold leaf.

The following article appeared in the Langton Life (October - November 2007 issue)

"According to the Langton Green Rural Society’s minutes, the first time the sign was mentioned was in September 2004 when Chris May, then the Secretary, proposed that part of the surplus funds that the Rural Society had should be spent on a new Village Sign.  He is not clear whether it was the new Groombridge sign that was the inspiration, it certainly was considered to be an excellent example, but why shouldn’t Langton Green have a sign of its own? 

The Rural Society’s goals include “preserving the Village identity” and “encouraging a community spirit” and the Village Sign seemed to fit the bill on all counts but at the time there was another idea that might use the surplus funds instead – it was suggested that the Rural Society pay for an “Interactive” sign at Heathgate corner.  This idea was proposed but the Borough Council rejected any outside funding of Council equipment - so in February 2005 it was decided to pursue the Village Sign idea.

The initial problems were design, cost and where.  Chris May made contact with Roy Harvey, who was responsible for the Groombridge sign in April, with the initial idea of getting advice on how to proceed.  He was, however, willing to accept a commission for the project and a budget was submitted and accepted by the main committee.  Next was where to put it?  It was decided that it had to be on the A264 but although it was generally felt that it should be situated near The Green, some members of the committee walked the village to see all possible sites.  There was another problem: the committee was reluctant to erect the sign on private land because of possible future problems regarding rights of ownership - it had to be on public land.

 In June 2005 a sub-committee was set up, comprising of Chris May, Peter Smith and Angela Moss so that quicker decisions could be made rather than wait for approval from monthly meetings.  Meanwhile Roy was working on the design which, like the Groombridge sign, was based on a heraldic design and he made considerable reference to Leonora Hayne’s booklet  “Langton Green in Bygone Days”.  Roy submitted his rough sketch design which was based on a circle depicting horse transport, the shield of Kent, the gibbet, tilting at the sandbag and two characters with a Royal connection.  A few minor changes were made but the overall design was not only accepted, but the circular design was thoroughly endorsed, and work began on the life size drawing, which it was hoped would be ready by October.  At this stage it was hoped that the sign could be in place by Spring 2006.

It was important to keep the Parish Council updated on the project and CM gave a power-point presentation at their October meeting with a view to asking them for their input on the site. The Rural Society recommended the strip of land along opposite The Green, next to the Post Office, which was owned by the Langton Green Charitable Trust (who owned Watson Hall).  Backing was received and so permission was asked from the LGCT to put it there, and was duly received.  The Parish Council was also willing to contribute to the cost of the sign but Rural Society wanted this to be their project and declined their kind offer.  Another problem that came to light was how to insure the sign when it was finally erected – after lengthy enquiries we received no quote so the best alternative was for it to be insured by the Parish Council, however for that to happen they had to own it.  It was therefore decided that the sign would “gifted” to the Parish Council, and therefore the Village, on completion.

It was during this time that Roy Harvey became ill and needed a serious operation and this took place in February 2006.  He took time to recover but he was able to complete the main drawing in all its detail and in June it was sent to the manufacturers who would laser cut the design in special steel which later had to be welded to the supporting back plate.  Roy had also designed a boot of the same material that would be cemented in to the hole in which the oak post would sit in to stop any rotting.

One thing that had been overlooked was to apply for Planning Permission for the site so in September the Parish Council, on our behalf, applied for Planning approval which was received in October.  During this time the oak post had been delivered and chamfered and coated.  Painting of the sign was started and would take a few months and was scheduled to be ready in the Spring, if not before. 

In the Nov/December edition of the Langton Life the Rural Society made a plea for help installing the sign – expertise and equipment was needed.  The sign and the post had to be transported, holes dug, cement poured and most importantly it had to be straight.  In December we had a phone call from Karen Gwinnett who said that the maintenance team at Holmewood House School had volunteered their services. 

In late March a meeting was held between Alan Stronghill, the team leader at Holmewood House, Roy Harvey and Chris May to discuss the best way to erect the sign.  However we had to find out the exact location of the utility pipes under the site before any digging could go ahead.  Letters were written in April but some companies had still not replied after two months and the delays were getting longer and longer.  After a concerted effort all the information was received in July and the maintenance team were contacted again but this coincided with their busy end of term.  It was also necessary to have the hole dug by an insured contractor in case any damage was caused to a utility pipe – it was getting very complicated!

Then on Monday 16th July Alan and his team were ready to start and the digging by hand began.  We knew that there were some pipes below - we just had to avoid them.  First dig found the gas pipe, so it was moved slightly and the hole was dug without any further incident.  The delays this year had achieved one thing – the ground was a lot softer than it had been back in April/May!  Alan and his team made sure that safety was paramount and every evening the hole was boarded over and fixed in to place and the area was cordoned off.  Next day the metal boot was placed in the hole with considerable care on to a bed of dry mix cement – it had to be absolutely right – any deviation and the sign would not be straight.  Wednesday the boot was cemented in and the collar was made.  Next Tuesday the oak post was transported, placed in the boot and molten pitch poured in to the boot around the post.  Wednesday 25th saw the sign bolted very carefully on the post nearly three years after it was first suggested.

Hopefully this article will give the people of Langton Green some idea how a project like this can take this amount of time.  Now that the project is complete the Rural Society hopes that everyone in the Village will like it, take pride in it and enjoy it for many years to come.

Note: There are a number of people who deserve a mention for their help: the committee of the Rural Society of course, led by Trevor Parker, and Peter Smith the President who deserves a special mention because of his enthusiasm for the sign, both were always behind the project.  Roy Harvey – who was paid a commission for the project but never enough to compensate for the hours and the labour of love he put in to it – from the initial sketch to final day when the sign was bolted on. The Parish Council for their help and guidance and for looking after the sign in the future.  Andrew Corbett, headmaster of Holmewood House School for allowing his team of Alan Stronghill, Kevin and Alan to help with the installation. 

Chris May, who’s idea it was, has now moved from Langton Green but every time he passes he will see the sign and think “I helped do that”. "

Chris May