Village Sign

The idea of erecting a Village Sign on the Green at Burnham Green was first put forward by villagers before the turn of the Millennium when the Village Hall Committee was looking for ways to spend money raised from the Village Festival to improve the village.
The Village Sign was designed and hand built to the villagers’ specification by Robin Penstone-Smith of Essenden Forge.
The sign is made of steel, cut and welded together, then galvanised, then painted and mounted on a 6” x 6” solid oak post donated by Alan Tyler of Lewis Tyler and Sons in Hatfield.
It is prominently positioned on the Village Green near the bus top and faces approximately East/West.

Features on the sign:

• The sign is designed to be read from either side. The Village Name is repeated on both sides with a steel plate between to provide separation whilst the decorative metalwork at the top is seen in profile from both sides.
• In the middle is the Ordnance Survey Triangulation Pillar (or Trig point), as Burnham Green is at the top of the hill and said to be the highest point moving due East until the Ural Mountains in Russia.
• Either side of it are two oak trees representing Two Oaks Drive
• To the left is the Village Hall. The windows are cut out to let the light through and give the steel the illusion of depth
• To the Right is a plough representing the agricultural heritage of the village which used to be home to no less than three farms
• Of course the Plough is drawn by a “White Horse”
• The sign is also adorned with bull rushes. Apparently, in the 1950’s and before, the green used to be much wetter and more overgrown than it is now and rushes grew on it. In fact Burnham Green was allegedly nicknamed “Rushy Park”

The Village sign was officially opened by Lord Laming on 29th April 2011 as part of the Village Royal Wedding celebrations on the marriage of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton.