Wymondham Heritage Museum volunteers restore town sign

At school I did not excel at woodwork, in spite of the fact I had one of the most naturally gifted craftsmen teaching me.

Harry Carter was art and woodwork teacher at Hamond’s Grammar School in Swaffham.

As you drive through the towns and villages of Norfolk, the chances are you will pass one of the wooden signs carved by Mr Carter. He made around 200 town signs between 1929 and his death in 1983.

Often he would be chipping away at a sign during lessons, while supervising us as we beavered away planning wood constructing dovetail joints.

Those boys who had an aptitude for woodwork were allowed to assist him with his signs. I was not one of those boys, but I do claim to have helped with the sign for Snettisham.

“’ere boy,” he barked at me one day. “Pass me that chisel.”

My small contribution must have shaved seconds off his carving time.

Some years after I’d left the school, minus any carpentry skills, Harry carved the town sign for Wymondham.

It was presented to the town by Wymondham Women's Institute to mark its golden jubilee and was unveiled on Wednesday July 30, 1969, by Ella Bowden, the oldest member of the local WI and its treasurer for more than 30 years.

Mrs Bowden had the idea of presenting the sign during her time on the council and had suggested it as a way to mark the Institute's 50 years in Wymondham.

Benedictine monks sit on top of the sign. Featured on one side is Robert Kett who led the rebellion in 1549 against the enclosure of common fields by landowners.

On the reverse, is a panel depicting a woodturner at work celebrating the production of wooden goods, such as spoons, once a major industry in Wymondham and surrounding areas.

The arms of Wymondham, a spoon and spigot, are displayed on the bottom of both sides of the sign with the motto “win munte ham”, meaning “the village on the pleasant mound”.

It stood for almost 40 years in the grounds of Becket’s Chapel on Church Street. But the weather took its toll and the sign was replaced by an aluminium version in 2008, unveiled by the then mayor, Len Elston.

When the town council moved to new offices last year, the old wooden sign was found in outbuildings. Before it was disposed of, it was offered to Wymondham Heritage Museum.

It was considered an important part of the town’s history, so the museum accepted the offer. But much restoration work was needed.

Museum maintenance manager David Brackenbury, with help from some of the other museum volunteers, took on the project.

David said: “The main problem was that it had been painted so many times with heavy lead paint. All the layers were different colours. One of the monks had been grey, black and dark green. And a monk was in a bad state. I used lots of wood filler and hardener.”

With the help of a photograph of the 1969 presentation of the sign to the town, David was able to match, as close as possible, the original colours.

“It took many hours to restore the sign,” says David. “But thanks to the good weather it was all done without it getting wet. I put the final coat of varnish on one morning and it rained at lunchtime!”

On metal stakes embedded in two feet of concrete, the sign now stands proud in the peaceful location of Wymondham Heritage Museum’s courtyard garden, formerly the exercise yards for prisoners incarcerated in The Bridewell, the museum’s home.

The garden is open to museum visitors where they can see the sign and relax with homemade cakes and scones from the Bridewell Tearoom.

*Museum and Tearoom are open daily, Saturday to Wednesday 1pm-4pm, Thursdays and Friday 10am-4pm. More information at thewhm.org.uk