Sign of the times
April 6, 2018
Over the eight years since the South Downs was designated we’ve often been asked why there are no signs telling people that they’ve arrived in the National Park. But what would they look like? Bespoke signage that creates a sense of arrival at the UK’s newest National Park is to be piloted in 19 locations around the South Downs this summer.
Before we could consider putting up boundary markers we first needed to develop an identity for the South Downs. Now this is in place we’re looking forward to joining all 14 other UK National Parks in proudly signalling our presence to visitors and people who live here.
The 19 pilot signs will be placed at specially chosen locations at, or near, the National Park’s borders – carefully selected as places in which there is a real sense of arrival in the National Park and each sign’s size and design will be tailored to fit with that particular location.
“In a recent survey only 39% of people in the South East of England were aware that the South Downs is designated as a National Park*,” says Trevor Beattie, Chief Executive for the National Park Authority. “These boundary markers are just one part of a strategy to increase awareness and add to its value as a destination to visit; for the quality of delicious local food and drink produced here; and as a landscape to be treated with care and respect.”
The markers will help people know that they are in a unique landscape that has been designated for the whole nation and deserves special care and attention. Part of the aim is to positively influence people’s behaviour – for example by encouraging visitors to stay longer and thereby support more businesses; and emphasise to dog walkers to keep their animals under close control.
The signs’ design will be based on the South Downs National Park’s shared identity. The different signs will be made either from iron or a mixture of wood and iron – reflecting the history of iron work in the South Downs during the 17th and 18th centuries and that the South Downs is the most wooded of any English National Park. The sweet chestnut wood to be used in the signs has been locally sourced from the Stansted Estate by English Woodlands.
With more than 2,000 points of entry or exit by road around the National Park’s 600km border it will never be possible or desirable to sign them all. The National Park Authority will be reviewing the signs over the next year and, if they are thought to be successful, may consider introducing more in the future.
Watch this space for more news.
*A YouGov survey carried out in 2016 asked respondents whether, prior to undertaking the survey, they were aware that the South Downs went live as a National Park in 2011, 39% living in the South East of England were aware of this fact.