Description

SPEEN

14/0/10019 OLD BATH ROAD
23-APR-07 OBELISK

II

Also Known As: OBELISK, SPEEN LANE
Speen Obelisk, formerly the Speenhamland Lamp, 1828 with a late C20 replacement lamp. Erected by the Speenhamland Improvement Commissioners in The Broadway, Newbury and relocated to its present site in 1888.
The Obelisk is a Bath Stone plain column with a moulded base, surmounted by a cast final supporting a late C20 lantern lamp. Horizontal banding on the column probably dates from its transportation to the present site in the late C19. There is evidence for a small plaque, now lost, on the east side.

HISTORY: Although now known as the Speen Obelisk the structure was originally called the Speenhamland Lamp and was a gas lamp base originally located in the centre of the Broadway at its junction with the Bath Road. In 1825 the passing of the Newbury and Speenhamland Act allowed the construction of a gasworks and gas lighting for the town and the adjoining area of Speenhamland. A number of gas lamps were erected with the Speenhamland Lamp in October 1828. The stone for the pillar is believed to have been donated by Frederick Page, one of the Speenhamland Improvement Commissioners, from his own quarry in Bath and transported to Newbury on the Kennet and Avon Canal. Minutes of the Speenhamland Improvement Commissioners meeting in July 1828 record their contribution of £10 towards its erection and that the lamp was to have a double burner.
Early C19 Newbury was a thriving coaching town and there were a number of coaching inns on the Bath Road which would have benefited from the lamp light, particularly the adjacent George and Pelican Inn. The Reading Mercury of October 1828 records the necessity of lighting the road: 'indeed it is necessary to have a gas light at night near this road [Broadway], for a person on horseback or in a gig stands a very good chance of losing his life, or breaking a limb by tumbling into one of the holes which are suffered to remain in the road'. Historic photographs show the lamp surrounded by iron railings with four small corner pillars to protect it from passing traffic.
The lamp remained in Northbrook Street until it was removed in November 1888 to allow the construction of a clock to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. The Speenhamland Lamp pillar was immediately re-erected at its present location. It is not certain whether the lamp was also relocated but a lantern was certainly lacking for some considerable time until its restoration in the late 1990s by the Speen Obelisk Restoration Appeal.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: The Obelisk is an unusual and early form of gas light standard signifying the impact of technology on people's daily lives in the early C19 and also the importance of the coaching trade to Newbury at that time and the necessity for well lit roads. It has added interest as a late C19 obelisk monument in its present location. It has special interest for its early date, simple yet unusual form and its technological interest as one of the earliest examples of public lighting.

SOURCES: S. Hopson, Newbury, a Photographic Record (1983, Countryside Books, Newbury) 20.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26672256

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
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  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
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  For the Record
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  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)