Ventilating Column

One of a pair of ventilation columns, 1897, by George Jennings, from an Egyptian pattern by Macfarlane's Castings, modelled on a design by Alexander 'Greek' Thomson.

Made of cast iron, the shaft has a tall square plinth with a flared fluted base, with flat Greek key and other geometric patterning. The column is slightly tapering, with bold fluting, terminating in stylised, pointed lotus flowers at the base and head. It has a deeply moulded, perforated capital with Egyptian aquatic plant ornament.

The superstructure, originally bearing a gas lamp, is an elaborate tripod with a fluted shaft, on a base of lotus and other leaves, some folded back, some overlapping, some unfurling to form the arms of the tripod. The scrolls, or unfurling leaves, are a shorter variant of the design of the western, New Cross Road column (Grade II).