Dolphin lamppost on Victoria Embankment, London

Dolphin Lamppost

Designed, G. Vulliamy

Modelled, C. H. Mabey

1877

Cast iron

Victoria Embankment, London

The base of the shaft shows "caduseus, river-god [surely, Old Father Thames], trident, arms of London, and inscribed cartouches" ("Dolphin Lampstandards..."). According to Stephen Halliday, "the Victoria Embankment was the first part of London to be illuminated by electric light" (142). The generator would have been very close to where Bazalgette's memorial plaque is now. The company involved failed in 1884, after which gas lights were used again for a while.

[Detail]

Photograph and text by Jacqueline Banerjee

[[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL.]

The new electric street lighting, installed between Westminster and Charing Cross in 1878, was an early tourist attraction, its first trial recorded by Charles Dickens, Jr, in his Dictionary of London (1879).

References

Dickens, Charles Jr. Dictionary of London. Viewed 24 August 2007.

"Dolphin Lampstandards, Victoria Embankment." Viewed 25 August 2007.

Halliday, Stephen. Making the Metropolis: Creators of Victorian London. Derby: Breedon Books, 2003.

Last modified 29 August 2007