Summary

One cast-iron C19 gas street lamp, manufactured by Dutton and Company; altered in early C21.

Description

Lamp at NGR SO7785640799
The tapering Windsor lantern is supported on four scrolled brackets, set on a barley-twist column above a moulded, studded ring; the lower part of the column is octagonal, has a foliate base, and carries the cast founder's mark. The ladder rest, which has been replaced, has twisted arms and moulded finials. The gas fittings have been removed and the lamp has been converted to electricity.

A second lamp towards the north end of Watery Lane at NGR SO7784940869 has had its lantern removed in the early C21 and is not of special interest.

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 two gas street lamps on Watery Lane were manufactured by Dutton and Company of Worcester and installed in the C19. The lamp towards the north end of Watery Lane has had its lantern removed in the early C21; the other has been converted to electric.

Reasons for Listing

The gas street lamp at SO7785640799 on Watery Lane is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Design quality: not withstanding its humble nature, the lamp has an elegant barley-twist design to the shaft that is well cast and a neatly-detailed Windsor lantern;
* Historic interest: as part of an extensive network of similar cast-iron street lamps which survive across Malvern.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26668993

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.

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