Summary

A gas street light comprising a 1910 Eddystone column and a Grosvenor lantern of unknown date.

Description

A gas street light comprising a column dated 1910 with a Grosvenor-type lantern, date unknown.

MATERIALS: cast iron lamp post with a glazed, metal lantern. The decorative 'fret' around the top of the lantern is probably cast lead.

DESCRIPTION: the lamp post consists of a tapering, fluted, column, identified as model number 1275 in the William Sugg catalogue and known as the 'Eddystone', topped with a Grosvenor lantern. The base of the column has the Westminster City Council crest embossed on one side and on the other, the royal cypher G V R and a date of 1910. An oval plaque to the lower part of the base bears an illegible serial number. The lantern is circular, with tapered and curved glazing panels with metal glazing bars, topped with a decorative, perforated fret and an ogee finial to the tent. Inside there is a four-mantle inverted burner with a battery-operated time clock and an aluminium reflector. The lantern is mounted on a three-legged frog attached to the collar of the column.

History

Gas street lighting first appeared in London in June 1807 when Frederick Albert Winsor gave a public demonstration of gas lights in Pall Mall. The expansion of the railways coinciding with the development of urban gas works in the 1840s facilitated the proliferation of cast iron lamp posts with open-flame gas burners across the capital in the mid-C19. This feature of industrialisation was seen to contribute to London’s international standing and also facilitated the development of modern urban living, increasingly unconstrained by daylight hours.

Electric street lighting was introduced from the 1880s and the gas industry responded by making technological improvements to gas lights, principally the incandescent gas mantle in 1896. This significantly increased the efficacy of gas light, but it was not until the introduction of the inverted gas mantle in 1905 that gas street lights were really able to match the efficiency and brightness of the rival electric carbon filament lamps. In the 1920s and 1930s, many gas lamp posts in Westminster were upgraded with new lanterns fitted with inverted mantles. Gas remained an important source of power for street lighting as late as the mid-C20, and smaller numbers of lamps have continued to run on gas into the early C21.

Chandos Place (known as Chandos Street until 1937) takes its name from the fourth Earl of Bedford's father-in-law, the third Lord Chandos. It was developed from the 1630s but most of the present buildings date from the second half of the C19.

The lamp post outside 66 Chandos Place was probably installed as part of a planned lighting scheme in 1910 to mark the beginning of King George V's reign. The Grosvenor-type lantern is unlikely to be the original lantern but the date of its installation is unknown.

Reasons for Listing

The lamp post outside 66 Chandos Place is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* as one of a number of lamp posts originally installed around Covent Garden in 1910 to mark the beginning of George V's reign.

Architectural interest:

* for the well-crafted, decorative column in cast iron, which is a good example of early C20 street furniture;
* for the quality and design of the Grosvenor lantern, a popular design of gas lantern often used in locations where something of superior aesthetic quality was required.

Group value:

* as part of an adjacent set of historic lamp posts on Chandos Place and a wider group across other key streets within the Covent Garden area.

Recommended Books

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  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
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  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
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  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
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  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
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  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
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  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)