Summary

A C19 gas street lamp, situated at NGR SO76979 43682, manufactured by Hardy and Padmore of Worcester.

Description

The lamp column is constructed from cast iron, with a Windsor lantern. The tapering lantern is set on four scrolled brackets on a tapering, reeded column which flares to a cushion ring. The plinth has a panel to each face, and stands on a square foot; it is cast with founder's mark. The ladder rest has reeded arms with moulded finials. The column carries stencilled number 31.

History

In 1851, permission was given for the building of a gas works at Sherrards Green in Malvern, the first to be built in the town. It opened in 1856, with the capacity to serve around 500 houses in the vicinity, as well as 200 street lamps. Further gas plants were opened around the town, and eventually all of Malvern, even remote locations, was provided with gas street lighting. In 1872, a lamplighter was paid 14s a week to light the lamps each evening. In total there were around 250 lamps, of which around 100 are still lit by gas, with a hand-wound clockwork mechanism to light them automatically. A further 125 have been converted to electric lighting; there are some replica lamp posts, and a few have been tapped off or lost entirely. The lamps were cast by a number of foundries, many of which were local, others much further afield, including Sheffield and Manchester. The lanterns were supplied by William Sugg & Company which was founded in London in 1837 to provide elements for gas lighting, and Foster and Pullen Ltd of Bradford.

The lamp at the north end of Wyche Cutting Footpath was manufactured by Hardy and Padmore of Worcester and installed in the C19.

Reasons for Listing

The gas street lamp at the north end of Wyche Cutting Footpath is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Intactness: the lamp standard is intact, and remains lit by gas;
* Design quality: not withstanding its humble nature, the lamp has an elegant reeded design that is well cast, and a neatly-detailed Sugg Windsor lantern;
* Technological: it illustrates a technology which once transformed everyday existence;
* Historic interest: it is part of an extensive network of similar gas-lit street lamps which survive across Malvern.
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External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26896590

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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  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
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  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
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  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)