Gas lamp post between numbers 33 and 33a, Millington Road

667/0/10192

MILLINGTON ROAD Gas lamp post between numbers 33 and 33a

07-SEP-10

GV II Street lamp erected by the Cambridge University and Town Gas Light Company,c.1889.

DESCRIPTION Made of cast iron to a design loosely based on the classical column, the lamp consists of a fluted shaft on circular base which is set on an octagonal plinth. The shaft tapers slightly before splaying out to form a plain banded capital. A simple four-sided lantern of metal and glass, crowned with a simple spike finial, rests upon four curved metal supports, and a ladder-rest projects from its base.

HISTORY Gas was introduced to Cambridge in about 1822 by John Grafton. He made gas from oil for street lighting in 1823, producing gas from coal a little later and finally moving his production site to the riverside for ease of coal delivery. An Act of 1834 converted his company to the Cambridge Gas-Light Company, which in 1867 became the Cambridge University and Town Gas Light Company. Gas production ceased on the riverside site in 1969 following the introduction of North Sea gas into Cambridge. Millington Road was built on land owned by King's College in 1889 and supplied with gas by the Cambridge University and Town Gas Light Company soon after. The gas lamps are still supplied with gas and have remained in use to the present day.