A bollard is a short, sturdy post made of iron, stone or timber, used either to moor ships or to protect pedestrians and buildings from traffic. In the architectural antiques trade the term usually refers to old cast iron and stone bollards salvaged from quays, streets, churchyards and estates.
The earliest street bollards in London are said to have been made from old cannon set muzzle-down into the ground, and the shape of a cannon with a ball in its mouth influenced many later cast iron designs. From the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries local foundries produced bollards for parishes, docks, canal companies and estates, often cast with a borough name, crest, date or the maker's name. Dockside mooring bollards are typically heavier and more squat, while street bollards are taller and more slender. Collectors and garden designers value bollards for their solid character and history, and look for crisp casting, legible inscriptions and an honest weathered surface. Antique bollards are now used to edge driveways and courtyards, mark gateways and protect garden walls, and a pair can make a strong architectural statement at an entrance.
