Simon C posted
this on the Yahoo group.
That is fantastic news!
They had been going to be replaced, so its good news.Yes, with new metal-halide "needles" already breathing down the necks of some of them, their listed status coming into force today was just in the nick of time!
I wonder who was behind the campaign to get them listed? Was it The Twentieth Century Society themselves. Although they have made no mention of their involvement in getting them listed, they would certainly already have been aware of architect Sir Albert Richardson through their work.
Fantastic also to see that The Twentieth Century Society have linked to
Simon Cornwell's excellent write-up about the Richardson Candles as their primary source of information for visitors to their site. Although Simon's write-up has been studied in depth by street lighting enthusiasts up and down the land (it was certainly my
only source of reference when I planned my trip there) it is fabulous to know there will be a new influx of visitors to his page as a result of today's announcement. Perhaps these visitors from The Twentieth Century Society will stay a while and see why the history and heritage of Britain's street lighting should fascinate them as much as the history and heritage of Britain's architecture does (or, dare I say it, mourn at its near-complete absence these days).
Perhaps Simon's excellent write-up played a part in getting them listed!
At this early stage, it is difficult to know why only nineteen Candles have been listed when there are more than twice that many still in existence. Will they keep just the wall-mounted ones, as they can be disconnected and left there in perpetuity without any risk of them being knocked down. Else I wonder if they have a certain location in mind - perhaps the one or two streets which have the highest tourist footfall, where they know they have enough Candles to make up a complete installation without casual replacements to spoil the view.
In an ideal world, I'd like them to be placed on brand new strong columns that exactly replicate the existing columns (which show the Candles at their best) but sited at the back of the kerb so they cannot be knocked down, as so many of them have in the past. I have no idea how to solve the lighting issue, apart from perhaps creating a circular venetian blind-style louvre to direct the light down (as you see on bollard lights) which would run the full-height of the 'cone'. The cone would have to be replaced with a less opaque version to further help direct the light downwards. The louvre could also be modified to block backspill onto buildings if needed. It is not beyond the expertise of lighting engineers to create a better solution than the one they tried a few years ago with shielded metal halide lamps in the top and bottom of the Candle, especially with LEDs now offering the opportunity to create far more optically-controlled directional light.
And by listing only half of the Candles, it means they can put the rest in storage and have enough spare parts to keep them going for the next fifty years and beyond!