Table taken from a “Memorandum by the Superintending Architect of the Metropolitan Board of Works, relative to the enforcement of the Law regulating the naming of Streets and numbering of Houses in the Metropolis” (1871):
| Parish A. | Parish B. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Names | on houses at corners of streets | 237 | 281 |
| „ | on piers of railings | 24 | 36 |
| „ | on iron plates | 6 | 44 |
| „ | on wooden boards | 18 | 36 |
| „ | on enamelled plates | 1 | 2 |
| „ | impressed in terra cotta | 2 | 3 |
| „ | in cement letters | 14 | 9 |
| „ | in Minton’s china letters | 2 | 1 |
| „ | engraved on stone | 5 | 13 |
| „ | on porcelain plates | 1 | 1 |
| „ | with raised letters on iron girder | 1 | |
| „ | on board on posts | 11 | |
| „ | on zinc | 2 | |
And to this table are added the words “Some names are completely hidden by vines, names given for ‘streets’ are put up as ‘roads.’” Since this table was prepared however, the confusion has been rectified by the energetic action of the Metropolitan Board of Works.
It is no doubt essential that for postal, telegraphic, and social reasons there should be uniformity in the manner in which the naming and numbering of streets is carried out, and the following particulars and suggestions may be of use.
Names of streets should be marked up in such a manner as to be legible both by day and lamp light, and the materials of which the name-plates are composed should be of sufficient strength to prevent any damage accruing to them from stone-throwing or other wilful or accidental injury, or from the action of changes of temperature or climatic influences of any kind, and the following list is given descriptive of some of the modern methods of effecting this:
Minton’s China Tiles.
—These are white glazed china tiles 6 inches square, on which either blue or black letters are burnt in, one letter on each tile (except in the case of St. which is on one tile); they are fixed by chasing them into walls of buildings, and setting them in cement. They are the best description of name-plate with which I am acquainted, their cost being only 6d. each, with the additional advantages of being not easily broken, they can be removed and re-used with facility, weather has no effect upon them, and they require no attention whatever after they are once fixed.
Cast-iron Plates with Embossed Letters.
—These are generally painted with a white ground, and black letters; they are liable to become broken, and as they are fixed with screws these rust through in course of time, when the plate may suddenly fall in a dangerous manner into the street; another disadvantage is that they require to be painted about once every three years.