Lamp standard commemorating Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee

Summary

Lamp standard commemorating Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee of 1897.

Reasons for Designation

The Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee lamp standard, erected in 1897, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: it commemorates the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, the only British monarch at that time to have reached sixty years on the throne. The event was celebrated in Britain by the erection of many buildings and structures, from schools and almshouses to fountains and lamp standards;
* Rarity: it is a relatively rare surviving example of a lamp standard erected to celebrate either the Golden or Diamond Jubilee, of which there are only around a dozen on the List;
* Design quality: it is an elegant, well-crafted structure in cast-iron, embellished with decorative detailing. The celebratory nature of the lamp standard is clearly expressed in the design which incorporates ‘VR’ and three crowns surmounting the lanterns;
* Intactness: although the lamp standard has recently been refurbished, the repair work carefully replicates the original design and other examples on the List have sustained a similar level of repair work.

History

The lamp standard was erected in the centre of Warboys by the village residents in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. It was constructed by the local ironmongery company, F. T. Ruston & Sons Limited, which was based in St. Ives. The proprietor of the company, Frederick Thomas Ruston, was Mayor of the Borough of St. Ives in 1896.

The lamp standard was refurbished in 1999-2000 as part of the Warboys Parish Council’s Millennium Project. These works consisted of reinstating the three missing lanterns with new ones based on the original design; raising the column which had sunk into the ground; and replacing the damaged stone base with a cast-iron base.

Details

MATERIALS: cast-iron with brass lantern frame.

DESCRIPTION: the elaborately designed lamp standard rests on a modern shallow cast-iron octagonal base. It has a circular plinth consisting of a moulded lower section bearing the inscription ‘F. T. RUSTON ST IVES’; a narrower, fluted central section; and a wider upper section embellished with two bands carrying a shell motif and foliation. The lower and upper sections of the plinth are also embellished with a Tudor rose. The lower section of the post is entwined with stylised ivy and then swells into a baluster shape decorated with an arcade and acanthus leaves before reaching up to the tri-arm. This has the inscription ‘VR’ at the base and carries three modern Victorian style lamps which are tapering cylindrical in shape. They are edged in a sort of brattishing in the form of oak leaves, and surmounted by crowns, with the central lamp carrying a larger crown. Some of the detailing is highlighted in orange/ gold paint.

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