A restoration project funded by the Rochester Bridge Trust has brought a touch of Edwardian grandeur back to Rochester Esplanade with the return of two ornate, cast-iron streetlights.
The Trust’s contractors, FM Conway, lifted the twelve-foot high, approximately one tonne streetlights into place at the entrance to the gardens yesterday (10 December), after a careful and thorough three-year restoration project funded by a grant from the Trust.
For the first time in 60 years, both streetlights are displayed in their complete form – with pedestal columns (the bases and posts of the lights) and reconstructed lanterns (the lights themselves) in place.
Originally gracing the approaches to Rochester Bridge, the two ornate streetlights are typical of the Edwardian decoration of the structure, which dates from 1914. The streetlights feature classical columns and swags (hanging chains of leaves, flowers and fruit).
Relocated in the 1960s to make way for the construction of the eastbound part of the Rochester Bridge crossing, the lights spent time in storage before the City of Rochester Society helped the Trust find a new home for the pedestal columns in 1987: at the entrance to Esplanade Gardens.
The pedestal columns (bases) remained in place on large granite plinths until 2022. After many years facing the elements the paintwork had faded and some of the cast-iron making up the elegant fittings had begun to corrode. The streetlights also needed new lanterns to replace the originals. The Trust awarded a grant to have them restored as part of programme of improvements of both Rochester Bridge and the Esplanade.
The Rochester Bridge Trust engaged a specialist contractor, Cast Iron Welding Services, to restore the ornate cast-iron pedestal columns. The Trust then had the lanterns recreated by Pudsey Diamond to reflect the original feel of the 1914 specifications. The streetlights were repainted in what would have been their original colours.
One feature of the streetlights was updated with the restoration. The streetlights will now use modern LEDs for illumination, to be more energy efficient and contribute to the Trust’s aim to reduce its carbon emissions.
Kate Castle, Bridge Programme Manager at Rochester Bridge Trust, said: “Bringing these beautiful ornate streetlights back to life has been a long time coming and it’s extremely rewarding to see them gracing the Esplanade Gardens in their original glory.
“Restoring a heritage object is a challenging prospect, because it involves a bit of detective work in finding out what has already happened to it over the years, both in terms of damage and old repair jobs.
“But with archive documents we were able to restore them to their original specifications, and we were able to preserve the original materials where we could, so it was a very sympathetic restoration.”
You can read more about the restoration of the lights in our news archives: https://rbt.org.uk/2022/theres-something-missing-on-rochester-esplanade/