Summary
Sewer gas destructor lamp. 1924 by Webb Lamp Company, Birmingham. Cast iron, glass.
Reasons for Designation
The sewer gas lamp on Stewart Road, Sheffield, of 1924 is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Rarity: although gas lamps were once common features of our street scenes they are increasingly rare and those combined with sewer vents are rarer still;
* Technological: the lamp illustrates a technology which transformed everyday existence, and its contribution to the public realm was considerable;
* Intactness: the lamp is intact and in working order;
* Design quality: notwithstanding its humble nature, this is an attractive gas lamp with a fluted, cast-iron column with bulged foot, projecting ladder rests, conical lantern with four curved glass panels, and a cast-iron domed cap with crescent finial;
* Group value: the lamp is part of a series of nineteen listed gas sewer lamps in Sheffield, installed to vent the sewer pipes in the hilly terrain, and has a functional group value with them.
History
Old urban sewers were often badly laid out and poorly vented, leading to the danger of disease and explosion from the build-up of methane and fetid stagnant gases in the system. In 1895 Joseph Edmund Webb, a builder from Birmingham, patented his sewer gas destructor lamp, and later formed the Webb Engineering Company. Sewer gas tended to collect in pockets, usually at high points in the sewer run. The lamps were located at these high points and coupled directly to the underground sewer. They were also connected to the ordinary town gas supply, and were usually lit by three mantles, which were rarely extinguished. The burning mantles created an intense heat within the hood, leading to an updraught which drew the gases from the sewer through a copper tube inside the column. It was then harmlessly burnt off, converting the methane to carbon dioxide before being released into the atmosphere. One lamp was capable of venting an area of up to three-quarters of a mile of sewer.
Details
Sewer gas destructor lamp. 1924 by Webb Lamp Company, Birmingham. Cast iron, glass.
Sources
Other
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
End of official list entry
