Lamp standard to the south-west of the Prince Alfred at the junction of Castellain Road and Formosa Street, City of Westminster, London

Entry Name: Lamp standard to the south-west of the Prince Alfred at the junction of Castellain Road and Formosa Street

Listing Date: 7 June 2022

Grade: II

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1480180

ID on this website: 101480180

Location: Westbourne Green, Westminster, London, W9

County: London

District: City of Westminster

Electoral Ward/Division: Little Venice

Parish: Non Civil Parish

Built-Up Area: City of Westminster

Traditional County: Middlesex

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Greater London

Summary

Cast-iron lamp standard of around 1898, set outside the Prince Alfred public house at the junction of Formosa Street and Castellain Road.

Description

Cast-iron lamp standard of around 1898 to the kerb outside the Prince Alfred public house, at the junction of Formosa Street and Castellain Road.

DESCRIPTION: tapered, fluted shaft with bands and crest emblems to the plinth, these featuring a lion holding a staff (originally with four crests, though one has been lost). The north-facing arm of the cross bar at the collar has been lost, a central floral motif and the elaborate bracket to the other arm remains. Above the capital is a replacement glazed ‘Nico’ lantern with a finial, fitted in 1988.

History

The streets around Warrington Crescent and Warwick Avenue were set out from the 1850s on land that formed part of the Bishop of London’s estate. Development of the area was characterised by substantial stuccoed houses, with those built along the northern part of Warwick Avenue (originally named Warwick Road West and later Warrington Terrace) completed by 1863. Formosa Street was laid out at the same time to function as a connecting service road lined with shops, following the pattern of development established by the 1824 masterplan by Samuel Pepys Cockerell for the Tyburn Estate or ‘Tyburnia’, to the south of Paddington. The Prince Alfred was built at the junction of Formosa Street and Castellain Road (known as Warwick Road North prior to renaming in 1869) as part of this early development of the area; recorded under its present name in trade records from 1869.

The lamp standard to the junction of Formosa Street and Castellain Road was installed as one of a pair to light the main south-western façade of the Prince Alfred. This formed part of a complete remodelling of around 1898; undertaken at the height of the London ‘pub boom’ which saw extravagant spending on remodelling of pubs as breweries and publicans jostled for market control within the context of strict control of license distribution. Lighting was an important component of the overall glittering effect pubs of the 1890s sought, and often involved a combination of kerb-side lamp standards, etched-glass windows, and hanging lanterns; as are all noted at the Prince Alfred. Although a relatively common feature of pubs of the late C19, very few examples survived into the later C20, as Mark Girouard noted in 1984 (‘Victorian Pubs’, p154). The two lamp standards at the Prince Alfred fell into disrepair into the 1970s, with the original lanterns lost at around this time. Replacement ‘Nico’ lanterns were fitted as part of work to the Prince Alfred in 1988 (City of Westminster reference: 88/04069/CAC).

Reasons for Listing

The lamp standard to the south-east of the Prince Alfred public house at the junction of Castellain Road and Formosa Street, erected in around 1898 as part of the remodelling of the pub, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a cast-iron lamp standard of around 1898 with intricate relief detailing;

Historic interest:

* as a very rare example of a lamp standard installed as part of a pub remodelling scheme undertaken at the height of the late-C19 ‘pub boom’, once a common part of the external appearance of many Victorian pubs, though now constituting one of a very small number known to survive;

Group value:

* with the Grade II*-listed Prince Alfred public house and the adjacent Grade-II listed lamp standard on Castellain Road, which was also installed as part of the remodelling of the pub in around 1898. There is also strong group value with the Grade II-listed buildings at 2-18 Formosa Street, 1-5 Formosa Street, and, to the south on Warrington Crescent, the Colonnade Hotel Warrington Lodge.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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.