Summary
Four cast iron lamp posts of 1848 design, set within a square that was one of the first to be lit by gas in Harrogate.
Reasons for Designation
The four former gas lamp posts within Promenade Square are listed for the following principal reasons:
* Decorative design: as good, early examples of Victorian mass-produced functional, yet decorative street furniture;
* Historic interest: Promenade Square being one of the parts of Harrogate to be the first to receive gas street lighting, being lit from 1848, a mark of the town’s civic pride;
* Streetscape: for their strong visual contribution to the Grade II-listed late C18 and early C19 houses forming the northern side of Promenade Square, and also group value with the Grade II-registered Valley Gardens to the SW and the Grade II*-listed Royal Pump Room to the SE.
History
Harrogate’s first 97 street lamps were installed by the Harrogate Gas Company in 1848 on behalf of the Improvement Commissioners (established in 1841, the forerunner of Harrogate’s local council), with further street lamps added in subsequent years. Historical records show that the provision of street lighting in the mid-C19 was a particular focus for the town’s early local authority, prompting much controversy in the years around 1850. Victorian photographs of lamp posts on Promenade Square, Chapel Street, at Christ Church and the Crown Hotel (all locations for lamp posts installed in 1848), show posts matching the design of the four now located around Promenade Square. These lamp posts originally supported lanterns lit with open gas flames, these being generally replaced after 1898 with smaller ‘Windsor’ style lanterns with more efficient gas mantles, as shown in early C20 photographs. By 1970 Harrogate’s gas lamps had all been converted to electricity, generally with swan neck fittings. The western three lamp posts of this group were subsequently fitted with more traditionally styled lanterns based on the ‘Windsor’ design.
Details
Four former gas lamp posts, 1848 design with late C20 lanterns.
Sources
Books and journals Websites http://www.francisfrith.com/harrogate/harrogate-adelphi-hotel-1924_75646
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
The listed buildings are shown coloured blue on the attached map. Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’), structures attached to or within the curtilage of the listed building (save those coloured blue on the map) are not to be treated as part of the listed building for the purposes of the Act.
End of official list entry
