Banbury Musuem hosts a rare exhibition of pub signs and SYLVIA VETTA follows the signs . . .

England's first art gallery was in the street. Not just one street but almost any main street in any town. Banbury Museum's latest exhibition entitled Art & Inn-trigue is about the curious history of pub signs.

They stem from a time when the majority of the population was illiterate. Most businesses used symbols and pictorial signs to advertise their trade. Only pubs continued the tradition once knowledge of reading became the norm.

This show is a landmark because exhibitions of inn signs have been rare - 1762, 1936, and the last, 1946. This one developed out of a smaller show at the Museum of Brewing in Burton-on-Trent last year.

So well done, Banbury! This modest, modern museum has a knack of discovering exhibitions with wide appeal.

Let's begin with a few facts and figures. There are over 50,000 pubs in Britain with as many as 20,000 names. The most popular with at least 800 is the Red Lion. This was the family emblem of John of Gaunt, the most powerful man in 14th-century England.

This is closely followed by The Crown and the Royal Oak. The latter became popular after the restoration of the monarchy because Charles II hid in an oak tree in 1651 when escaping from parliamentary forces.

By examining those names and pictures we can trace 800 years of history. Apparently, the Romans did start it by hanging bushes outside taverns but the sign, as we know it, seems to be a mediaval invention. The earliest had religious connotations. In Oxford we have a few of those including the The Lamb and Flag and The Angel. This was followed by heraldry and names like The Unicorn and The Red Rose.

Coaching became significant and so along comes The Horse and Groom and, of course, The Coach and Horses. Many inns gave hospitality to weary travellers. Means of transport feature large in the history of pub names and locations. As the canal network spread in the 18th century so did names like The Tunnel and Barge, The Lock and one local one The Boat.

The coming of the railways, of course, brought even further changes. The Junction and The Railway Inn are just two familiar names. Initially Abingdon, like Oxford, rejected the new means of transport. Only when their economy began to lose out was the Oxford to Reading branch line created.

The Railway Inn sign from Abingdon is a sign of the times for neither the station nor the pub exists today. The Marlow Donkey is not a picture of the animal but of an engine. There are just a few modern travel signs. One in Bristol is called Man in Space.

I enjoyed the unusual ones that tell a story. The Flying Monk in Malmesbury commemorated Elmer who tried to fly by jumping from the Abbey tower. He is said to have travelled 200 yards before crashing into the ground.

The Drunken Duck, in Cumbria, involves a true story. The landlady of this pub kept ducks and woke one morning to find them lying dead on the ground. She began to pluck their feathers. This painful procedure revived them - they had been drinking strong ale from a leaking barrel and were dead drunk'. Is this, I wonder, the origin of the term?

There are 80 different trades on pub signs. The prefix Jolly is often attached, as in The Jolly Farmer. To my knowledge, there isn't one called The Jolly Editor. Now, there's an idea.

The most expensive pub sign was bought from Johann Fairchild in 1655 for the then enormous sum of £1,057. The equivalent today is approximately £140,905. James Peck, a Norwich wool merchant, used it as an elaborate bridge across the road in Schoale to promote The White Hart. In 1663, it was described as "the noblest sign in England", not just because of its size and cost but also because of its heraldic symbols.

The shortest lived sign is probably The Penguin. The son of the publicans at The Queen in Wokingham served in the Falklands. He told his parents "he never wanted to see a bloody penguin ever again". The sign was a practical joke and they removed it after only one day.

Banbury Museum is a family attraction. As well as their usual art cart, trails and activity packs, you can take a camera and snap each family member with his or her head in a pub sign. There are large jigsaws and dressing-up clothes for children and a quiz section to suit all ages.

Dale Johnston, the museum's exhibitions officer, said: "The exhibition is designed to appeal to both local people and those travelling in the area this summer but for those who can't catch it then, a tour of other museums in the county is being planned for later in the year and into 2008."

The show continues until September 16. For further details call Banbury Museum on 01295 259855 or visit the www.cherwell-dc.gov.uk/banburymuseum website.