Sewer ventilation column on the north side of Duke of Edinburgh Road, Carshalton

The sewer ventilation column, built between 1896 and 1903, is located on the north side of Duke of Edinburgh Road in Carshalton. It was cast by Walter Macfarlane and Co at the Saracen Foundry in Glasgow as part of a sewerage scheme designed by engineer Baldwin Latham, which included at least 28 similar columns.

Constructed of cast iron, this cylindrical column stands approximately 9 meters high and is designed to resemble a Classical column, featuring a pedestal, moulded base, and an enriched capital. The column consists of two conjoined lengths of pipe connected by a flanged joint. Atop the capital is an ornate arrow that serves to orient the vent into the wind or indicate the sewer's direction. This is further topped by a ball with vents facing in all four directions and a tall finial encircled with a coronet. The column bears the manufacturer's stamp ‘W MACFARLANE & CO, GLASGOW’.