Lamp post outside 8 Mercer Street

Summary

A gas street light comprising a cast iron, 'Trafalgar' column and a Windsor lantern manufactured by William Sugg and Company Limited, probably dating from around 1908.

Reasons for Designation

The lamp post outside 8 Mercer Street, probably dating from around 1908 is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* for the well-crafted, decorative column in cast iron, which is a good example of historic street furniture;
* for the design of the Windsor lantern, one of the most popular and enduring styles of lantern and the first specifically designed to hold an incandescent gas mantle.

Historic interest:

* as a good example of an historic gas lamp post dating from the early C20.

Group value:

* with Grade II listed 6-8 Mercer Street and as part of a group of historic gas lamp posts in the Covent Garden area.

History

Gas street lighting first appeared in London in June 1807 when Frederick Albert Winsor gave a public demonstration of gas lights in Pall Mall. The expansion of the railways coinciding with the development of urban gas works in the 1840s facilitated the proliferation of cast iron lamp posts with open-flame gas burners across the capital in the mid-C19. This feature of industrialisation was seen to contribute to London’s international standing and facilitated the development of modern urban living, increasingly unconstrained by daylight hours.

Electric street lighting was introduced from the 1880s and the gas industry responded by making technological improvements to gas lights, principally the incandescent gas mantle in 1896. This significantly increased the efficacy of gas light, but it was not until the introduction of the inverted gas mantle in 1905 that gas streetlights were able to match the efficiency and brightness of the rival electric carbon filament lamps. In the 1920s and 1930s, many gas lamp posts in Westminster were upgraded with new, ‘shadowless’ lanterns fitted with inverted mantles. Gas remained an important source of power for street lighting as late as the mid-C20, and smaller numbers of lamps have continued to run on gas into the early C21.

Mercer Street takes its name from the Worshipful Company of Mercers, who owned much of land north of Covent Garden. Along with Long Acre it was first built up in the C17, but Numbers 6-8 were constructed for the Mercers' Company around 1908. The gas lamp outside this building has a Windsor lantern; these were introduced by William Sugg and Company Limited from 1898 and was the first lantern specifically designed to hold a gas mantle instead of an open flame. It soon became one of the most popular and enduring lantern designs with most manufacturers producing a similar model. It is likely that the lamp post and lantern were installed around the time Numbers 6-8 were built, in order to light the entrance to the building.

Details

A gas street light comprising a cast iron, 'Trafalgar' column with a Windsor lantern, probably dating from about 1908.

MATERIALS: a cast iron column and a copper lantern with an enamel reflector.

DESCRIPTION: the lamp post comprises a cast iron column with a tapered, circular pedestal on a square base. The pedestal has moulded collars at irregular intervals and has an applied registration plaque bearing number 7507. A fluted, 'tulip' shaft rises from the pedestal, terminating in a circular collar with a single ladder rest and a four-legged frog supporting a Windsor lantern. The lantern is square with tapered glazing panels and copper casing. The tent has oak leaf decoration to the corners and a spike and cap finial. Inside is a six-mantle burner, an enamel reflector, a Horstmann control clock and a Comet igniter.

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Bradley, S, The Buildings of England: London 6 Westminster, (2003), 352

Websites
Survey of London: Volume 20, St Martin-in-The-Fields, Pt III: Trafalgar Square and Neighbourhood, accessed 22 November 2023 from https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol20/pt3/pp125-127
The Windsor Lamp, accessed 22 November 2023 from https://williamsugghistory.co.uk/lighting/street-lamps/the-windsor-lamp/#:~:text=The%201898%20Windsor%20lamp%20was,years%20of%20the%2020th%20century.

End of official list entry

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