Gas Lamp Post Between Numbers 28 And 30

The gas lamp post located between numbers 28 and 30 Millington Road was erected by the Cambridge University and Town Gas Light Company around 1889. Made of cast iron, the lamp features a design that is loosely based on a classical column. It has a fluted shaft that stands on a circular base, which is set on an octagonal plinth. The shaft tapers slightly before widening to form a plain banded capital. Atop the shaft sits a simple four-sided lantern made of metal and glass, which is crowned with a spike finial and supported by four curved metal brackets. A ladder-rest projects from the base of the lantern.

Gas lighting was first introduced to Cambridge around 1822 by John Grafton, who initially produced gas from oil and later from coal. His company evolved into the Cambridge Gas-Light Company in 1834, which became the Cambridge University and Town Gas Light Company in 1867. Gas production at the riverside site ceased in 1969 with the introduction of North Sea gas. Millington Road was developed on land owned by King's College in 1889 and was soon supplied with gas by the Cambridge University and Town Gas Light Company. The gas lamps, including this one, continue to be supplied with gas and remain in use today.

This gas lamp post is designated as Grade II due to its architectural and historic interest as a finely-detailed 19th-century example, its intactness as it is still lit by gas, and its group value as part of a collection of ten other similar gas lamp posts in Millington Road. It also has additional group value with the listed modernist house at number 26 Millington Road, designed by Marshall Sissons.