One feature that appears on some Canterbury lamp posts is very easily missed – the ‘foundry mark’.
The following examples all appear on ‘Biggleston-style’ lamp posts. In each case the mark appears below the ‘electrics’ door near the base of the post.
The first four can all be found in New Street. They seem to show an overhead hanging ladle used in the casting process. One image (Image 4) shows how time and wear can reduce the mark to an unrecognisable splodge.
The final two posts can be seen in Pound Lane – one near the Butterfly Garden and the other nearby towards the junction with The Causeway. They also depict industrial hanging ladles but these are of different design and incorporate the letters ‘M-S’. There many similar examples across the city.
Whether either of these marks was used in the Biggleston casting works is unclear. They could perhaps represent other casting works used since the closure of Biggleston’s in 1963.
