History in Structure

Three lamp posts along Crown Place

A Grade II Listed Building in Low Harrogate, North Yorkshire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 53.9935 / 53°59'36"N

Longitude: -1.5464 / 1°32'46"W

OS Eastings: 429837

OS Northings: 455363

OS Grid: SE298553

Mapcode National: GBR KQN8.06

Mapcode Global: WHC8F.6WWF

Plus Code: 9C5WXFV3+9C

Entry Name: Three lamp posts along Crown Place

Listing Date: 25 July 2016

Grade: II

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1432946

ID on this website: 101432946

Location: Low Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG1

County: North Yorkshire

District: Harrogate

Electoral Ward/Division: Low Harrogate

Parish: Non Civil Parish

Built-Up Area: Harrogate

Traditional County: Yorkshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): North Yorkshire

Church of England Parish: High Harrogate St Peter

Church of England Diocese: Leeds

Tagged with: Architectural structure

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Summary


Three cast iron lamp posts of 1848 design installed after 1890.

Description


Three former gas lamp posts, 1848 design with late C20 lanterns.

FORM: cast iron with a square base with embossed decoration featuring a Yorkshire rose set above a palmette to each face. Rising from the base is a tapering, reeded column topped by a palmette decorated bell capital. Above this are a pair of small lion heads flanked by ornately shaped ladder rests. Above, supported on a short shaft, is a modern reproduction of a ‘Windsor’ style lantern.

STREET SETTING: set along a cobbled, pedestrianized street flanked by the Grade II*- listed Royal Pump Room and the Grade II-listed 1-3 Crown Place.

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 three now located along Crown Place. 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, these subsequently replaced with more traditionally styled lanterns based on the ‘Windsor’ design.
The 1889-90 1:500 town plan of Harrogate shows that there were no lamp posts on Crown Place, although lamps did flank the southern entrance to the Royal Pump Room. It is not known when the lamp posts were installed along Crown Place.

Reasons for Listing


The lamp posts along Crown Place are listed for the following principal reasons:
* Decorative design: as good examples of Victorian mass-produced, functional yet decorative street furniture;
* Historical interest: as a marker of Harrogate’s C19 civic pride, the introduction of street lighting from 1848 being a particular focus of the town’s early local authority;
* Streetscape: for their strong visual contribution to the cobbled street flanked by listed Victorian buildings.

External Links

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