Gas Lamp Post Outside Number 36

The gas lamp post outside number 36 Millington Road is a Grade II listed street lamp, erected around 1889 by the Cambridge University and Town Gas Light Company. This lamp is made of cast iron and features a design that loosely resembles a classical column. It has a fluted shaft that rests on a circular base, which is set on an octagonal plinth. The shaft tapers slightly before widening into a plain banded capital. Atop the shaft is a simple four-sided lantern made of metal and glass, which is supported by four curved metal arms and topped with a spike finial. A ladder-rest extends from the base of the lantern.

Gas lighting was first introduced to Cambridge around 1822 by John Grafton, who initially produced gas from oil before switching to coal. His company evolved into the Cambridge Gas-Light Company in 1834 and later 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 supplied with gas shortly thereafter. The gas lamps, including this one, continue to be lit by gas and remain in use today.

This gas lamp post is designated at 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 lamps in Millington Road.