Lamp Posts
Ditchling is unusual in that its lamp posts are owned by the Parish Council, although they are maintained under contract by East Sussex County Council. They are an important part of our street scene and are of historical and architectural interest. The Ditchling Society believes they should be valued and preserved.
Julia Goodbourn produced a paper for the Society in 2021 describing and commenting on the 16 lamp posts in the conservation area of the village associated with listed buildings. A further 31 are scattered elsewhere in the parish.
What makes these lamp posts special? Well, firstly most of them are pretty old. Installed in mid-Victorian days, they were lit by gas and only later converted to electricity. When we talk about ‘lamp posts’ we mean the cast iron, fluted poles, sometimes with a ladder rest at the top used by the lamp lighter when performing the daily duty of climbing up to light the gas flame. The lanterns at the top of the pole around the light source are mostly of more recent vintage.
Some of these poles have stood in the village since they were made: an example is the one where the Twitten meets East End Lane. This post was made by W C Holmes of Huddersfield and installed in 1869 by the Keymer and Ditchling Gas Works. Some of the poles were first installed elsewhere, such as the ones installed at Lewes Station towards the end of the nineteenth century and moved to Ditchling when Lewes Station converted to electricity.
