Lamp Posts (1)
Call me tragic. I've started realising just how fab our lamp posts are. Well - some of them, anyway. The ones that come from another time, when they weren't just there to perform an illuminatory function, but to be decorative as well. I was wandering through the ORNC yesterday and it suddenly hit me, the sheer variety of the things. Some stand sentinel at entrances, others are simple columns with traditional Victorian-looking lanterns on top. Presumably most of them used to be gas lamps.There are giant versions, just outside the Painted Hall and the Chapel, with massive bulbs inside them, and tiny curly iron ones that, despite their ornate styling, we walk past and hardly notice - like this sweet little lamp round the back, near the porter's lodge in the car park.
There are those that light the two little fountains in the green bit just outside King Charles Block (the bit that used to be parade-ground) and discreet varieties lighting the inner courtyards, just dim enough to be frankly rather creepy at night.And fab streetlights aren't just found at the ORNC. Those lamps up Greenwich Church Street are fantastic - especially if you look at them from St Alfege's churchyard, through the tree branches. Or in Gloucester Circus (they have curious little copper bits around them) - no wonder the place (or half of it, anyway) keeps being used in films. Or round by the gates to the park.
In fact, gates are a fantastic place to see good lamps. Here's a rather fuzzy set I snapped in the fog last year, that lead to the Queen's House. I did get a pic where there wasn't a car going past, but I rather like the red lines in this one.
I'm highly intrigued by the gates that lead into the grounds of Devonport House - they have what looks suspiciously like old braziers in them. Surely not..? 
No, you're probably right - I'm just getting overexcited again. But you can't beat a good brazier. Maybe I should start a Braziers For All campaign. The local herberts would love it...I think I shall start an occasional series on street furniture. Contributions always gratefully accepted...
Labels: Greenwich street lighting, Secret Greenwich, Street lights
posted by The Greenwich Phantom at
08:20
7 Comments:
I still like wandering round and finding gas lamps still working in parts of London.
Soho has a surprising number of them, as does St James Park/Buckingham Palace.
Foggy evenings + gas lighting = tres romantic.
An illuminating post, Phantom.
This has certainly shed some light on the small-scale architectural history of Greenwich.
Braziers? C'est possible I suppose if they are VERY old and predate the piped gas supply. In some of the squares in Bloomsbury etc, you can still see the torch-holders either side of posh front doors in which flambeaux used to be stuck at night. But my guess is, that with the naval connection, they might be tridents (albeit four pronged ones?).
Like the idea of an occasional "Street Architecture" posting - too many of us pass these tiny bits of history every day and never even notice them. There's a building in Moorgate which used to be an insurance company HQ which has a 6 foot stone lighthouse incorporated into the architecture (presumably to represent Safety) which makes me smile every time I see it!
Westminster Council still has a gas lighting department.
To tie in to a previous post.....
Have you noticed the gas lights on the King William IV? They are covered in white paint but are still in situ.
It is amazing what is still around when you look for it. Let's just hope that our beloved council will appreciate the value of keeping some old street furniture in place and in a 'working' condition.
Maybe we should be calling for a return of the trams!!??
Re Devonport house gate brazier thingymabobs, I just wonder if there is a bit missing like a glass orb which sat within the prongy quadrenty spikey watchamacallits.
(please excuse all the technical references)
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