Electric Transformer Pillar

The electric transformer pillar located at The Glade in Kingswood was built around 1914 and features a streetlight with late 20th-century lamps. Made of cast iron, the pillar has a circular shape, measuring approximately 1 meter in diameter and 2.5 meters in height. Its design includes vertical ribs that divide the face into panels and three diminishing horizontal stages. The lower two stages each have two pairs of doors on opposite sides, while the top stage showcases a decorative panelled frieze. Above this is an egg and dart cornice, leading to a shallow conical top. A decorative lamp column rises from the center, splitting into a T-shape at the top, where a lamp is mounted on each end of the crossbar; this section is a later replacement of the original lamp. One of the lower doors features a panel indicating the maker: British Electric Transformer Company, Hayes, Middlesex.

The Glade and surrounding roads began development in 1914, and this transformer pillar was installed under The Banstead, Walton on the Hill & District Electrical Lighting Order 1914, which aimed to provide electricity to specific streets in the area, including The Glade. The installation was carried out by Gilbert Allom, an electrical engineer who served as a private provider of electricity for public and private needs in Banstead Parish.

This early 20th-century transformer pillar is notable for its design and historical significance, representing a key development in the mass supply of electricity that transformed British domestic life.