Ventilating Pipe To Former Public Conveniences

The building is a ventilating pipe that was installed as part of public conveniences in 1897 by George Jennings, a sanitary engineer, for the Greenwich District Board of Works on behalf of the Vestry of St Paul's, Deptford. This central ventilating column features an Egyptian pattern and was produced by Macfarlane's Castings of Glasgow, based on a design by the architect Alexander 'Greek' Thomson for six lamp standards outside his Egyptian Halls. These lamp standards were erected without authority and demolished in 1871. This ventilating pipe is one of only two known examples of this design; the other is located in Clifton Rise, New Cross, but is not in its original location. The pipe served to extract foul gases from the lavatories below, which could be burnt off by the gas mantle at the top. The cast-iron ventilation shaft is listed for its special interest due to its unusual Egyptian pattern and its connection to a prominent Scottish architect. The ventilation columns in New Cross are the only works associated with Thomson in England.