Three gas street lamps

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.

The three lamps on West Malvern Road were installed in the C19.

Details

Three C19 gas street lamps, one by Hamilton Woods of Manchester.

Lamp at NGR SO7644245481
The lamp is constructed of cast iron with a Windsor lantern supported on four scrolled brackets, set on a barley-twist column above a moulded, studded ring on an octagonal lower shaft with a foliate, vase-shaped base. The ladder rest has twisted arms and moulded finials, one of which is missing.

Lamp at NGR SO7646045291
The lamp is constructed of cast iron with a Windsor lantern supported on four scrolled brackets, set on a barley-twist column above a moulded, studded ring on an octagonal lower shaft with a foliate, vase-shaped base. The ladder rest has twisted arms and moulded finials, one of which is missing.

Lamp at NGR SO7647645203
The lamp is constructed of cast iron with a Windsor lantern supported on four scrolled brackets set on a flared, reeded capital, on a tapering reeded column with a moulded base set on an octagonal plinth with a flared foot. The ladder rest has reeded arms with moulded finials. By Hamilton Woods of Manchester; the plinth is cast with the founder's mark.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

488238

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Websites
William Sugg & Co 1837-1969, accessed from http://www.williamsugghistory.co.uk/lighting.htm
Greater Malvern Victorian Spa Town, accessed from http://www.civicvoice.org.uk/uploads/files/Malvern_-_Victorian_Spa_Town.pdf

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