A bollard is simply a short post in an upright position. In the past, these were generally used to moor ships. Today, they have a multitude of functions. Another name for a bollard is a "bole" or a "boulard" (from the French). One of the earliest known bollards is made of white marble and is placed at the northwest end of the Roman Forum. It is called the Arch of Septimius Severus and was erected in AD 203 in commemoration of one of his military victories. Beyond the arch itself are located five boulards, placed there to protect the arch from vehicle damage. It is not clear when they were placed there. In modern times, a bollard is likely to be placed in front of an expensive shop to dissuade wannabe ram-raiders or to discourage suicide bombers from driving into public buildings.
Dragon's teeth are a special form of bollard. These are square pyramidal posts of reinforced concrete. They were first used during the Second World War to slow down the progress of tanks and to channel them towards "killing zones." Dragon's teeth were extensively employed in the Siegfried Line, a defense system built in the 1930s opposite the French Maginot Line.
There is a collection of boll-art around Winchester Cathedral, where the devices are used both functionally and in a decorative manner. The posts have been painted to resemble famous paintings. Mona Lisa rubs elbows with works derived from Klimt, Lautrec, Matisse and Mondrian.
Another type of bollard is the bell. Situated on sidewalks at traffic junctions, they would appear to have the function of causing pedestrians to trip and fall, or at least stub their toes. Not so. Their shape presumably keeps heavy goods vehicles from jumping onto the pavement.
On London streets you will see the posts lit from the inside in an effort to help motorists see where to turn. One artistically-inclined Londoner used a felt-tip pen to decorate one near her home with lovely butterflies and flowers. She got the idea from her home town of Brisbane in Australia, where the city council actively encouraged residents to decorate things like signal boxes.
Probably one of the most elaborate examples of boll-art is in London, located on Duke Square in the Sloane Street area of SW1. A boy is shown leap-frogging over a bollard. Nearby, there is a little girl sitting on top of a concrete plinth. Engraved on the plinth is the title of the piece, "The Two Pupils, " and a short description of how they came to be there.
There is something about the mooring bollard with a perpendicular bar that seems to attract tourists with cameras. The purpose of the bar is to enable sailors to wind ropes around in a figure eight pattern when mooring a boat or a ship. Recent examples may be found in Marina of Izola, Lyme Regis and in the borough of Ghent in the principality of Wales.
The bollard is a familiar object of life in Britain. We back into them in our cars, we trip over them in our streets. They protect us from bombers, ram-raiders and truck-drivers. They keep sailors figure-eight-tracing skills up to date and keep tourists occupied. Where would we be without the beautiful bollard!
Dragon's teeth are a special form of bollard. These are square pyramidal posts of reinforced concrete. They were first used during the Second World War to slow down the progress of tanks and to channel them towards "killing zones." Dragon's teeth were extensively employed in the Siegfried Line, a defense system built in the 1930s opposite the French Maginot Line.
There is a collection of boll-art around Winchester Cathedral, where the devices are used both functionally and in a decorative manner. The posts have been painted to resemble famous paintings. Mona Lisa rubs elbows with works derived from Klimt, Lautrec, Matisse and Mondrian.
Another type of bollard is the bell. Situated on sidewalks at traffic junctions, they would appear to have the function of causing pedestrians to trip and fall, or at least stub their toes. Not so. Their shape presumably keeps heavy goods vehicles from jumping onto the pavement.
On London streets you will see the posts lit from the inside in an effort to help motorists see where to turn. One artistically-inclined Londoner used a felt-tip pen to decorate one near her home with lovely butterflies and flowers. She got the idea from her home town of Brisbane in Australia, where the city council actively encouraged residents to decorate things like signal boxes.
Probably one of the most elaborate examples of boll-art is in London, located on Duke Square in the Sloane Street area of SW1. A boy is shown leap-frogging over a bollard. Nearby, there is a little girl sitting on top of a concrete plinth. Engraved on the plinth is the title of the piece, "The Two Pupils, " and a short description of how they came to be there.
There is something about the mooring bollard with a perpendicular bar that seems to attract tourists with cameras. The purpose of the bar is to enable sailors to wind ropes around in a figure eight pattern when mooring a boat or a ship. Recent examples may be found in Marina of Izola, Lyme Regis and in the borough of Ghent in the principality of Wales.
The bollard is a familiar object of life in Britain. We back into them in our cars, we trip over them in our streets. They protect us from bombers, ram-raiders and truck-drivers. They keep sailors figure-eight-tracing skills up to date and keep tourists occupied. Where would we be without the beautiful bollard!
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