Summary
Three C19 gas street lamps, one by Hamilton Woods of Manchester.
Reasons for Designation
The mid-C19 gas street lamps on West Malvern Road are designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Design interest: the lamp standards are well cast, and each has a neatly-detailed tapering Windsor lantern;
* Intactness: the lamp standards are intact, with the exception of the loss of one arm of one ladder rest to two of the lamps; they remain lit by gas;
* Group value: the lamps form a functionally-related group along this road;
* Historic interest: these lamps are part of an extensive network of similar gas-lit street lamps which survive across Malvern.
History
In 1851, permission was given for the building of a gas works at Sherrards Green in Malvern, the first to be built in the town. It opened in 1856, with the capacity to serve around 500 houses in the vicinity, as well as 200 street lamps. Further gas plants were opened around the town, and eventually all of Malvern, even remote locations, was provided with gas street lighting. In 1872, a lamplighter was paid 14s a week to light the lamps each evening. In total there were around 250 lamps, of which about 100 are still lit by gas, with a hand-wound clockwork mechanism to light them automatically. A further 125 have been converted to electric lighting; there are some replica lamp posts, and a few have been tapped off or lost entirely. The lamps were cast by a number of foundries, many of which were local, others much further afield, including Sheffield and Manchester. The lanterns were supplied by William Sugg and Company which was founded in 1837 to provide elements for gas lighting, and Foster and Pullen Ltd of Bradford.
Details
Three C19 gas street lamps, one by Hamilton Woods of Manchester.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
488238
Legacy System:
LBS
End of official list entry
