Lamp post outside 34-43 Russell Street

A gas street light comprising a column dated 1910, with a Rochester-type lantern manufactured by William Sugg and Company Ltd, probably installed around 1930.

MATERIALS: cast iron lamp post, with a glazed lantern of iron, spun copper and enamelled steel.

DESCRIPTION: the lamp post consists of a tapering, fluted column, identified as model 1275 in the William Sugg catalogue and known as the 'Eddystone', with an Upright Rochester lantern. The base of the column has the Westminster City Council crest embossed on one side and a registration plaque bearing number 7295. On the other side is the royal cypher G V R and a date of 1910. The column manufacturer's name is also embossed on the base: Revo Tipton. An additional metal plaque has been strapped to the fluted part of the column, which bears the following inscription: 'City of Westminster/ Hanging baskets presented by/ GREAT PORTLAND ESTATE/ PLC'. The lantern has a circular, weatherproof chimney above an inverted, six-mantle burner in a teardrop-shaped glass enclosure with a drainage hole to its base. The main body is supported on a pair of upright arms, which project at right-angles from the cast iron control clock box and pass the horizontal enamelled steel reflector to provide the gas supply to the chimney. These arms retain their original decorative ironwork scrolls, which were typical of inter-war Rochester lanterns, although the lower parts of these scrolls have been lost.