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South Green Road

History of South Green Road

Listed Building

II Street lamp erected by the Cambridge University and Town Gas Light Company, c. 1889.

DESCRIPTION Made of cast iron to a design loosely based on the classical column, the lamp consists of a fluted shaft on a circular base which is set on an octagonal plinth. The shaft tapers slightly before splaying out to form a plain banded capital. A simple four-sided lantern of metal and glass, crowned with a simple round finial detail, rests upon four curved metal supports, and a ladder rest projects from its base.

HISTORY Gas was introduced to Cambridge in about 1822 by John Grafton. He made gas from oil for street lighting in 1823, producing gas from coal a little later and finally moving his production site to the riverside for ease of coal delivery. An Act of 1834 converted his company to the Cambridge Gas-Light Company, which in 1867 became the Cambridge University and Town Gas Light Company. Gas production ceased on the riverside site in 1969 following the introduction of North Sea gas into Cambridge. The gas lamp in South Green Road dates from the late C19 and is still supplied with gas, having remained in use to the present day.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION The gas lamp post outside no.s 4 and 5 South Green Road, Cambridge is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * ARCHITECTURAL AND HISTORIC INTEREST: It is an unusual example of a finely-detailed C19 gas lamp post. * INTACTNESS: It is still lit by gas.

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