Three Lamps by night

"The original Three Lamps at the intersection of Jervois Road, Ponsonby Road, College Hill and St Marys Road ...", c.1910, ref 4-887, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Library.

 

Updated 14 June 2024.

Three Lamps is part of the Auckland landscape, even when you aren't necessarily referring to the heritage side. The lamps were a landmark for much of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Their loss from central position at the busy intersection was mourned. The mock-up replacement attached to the Gluepot pub was tolerated -- barely, by some.

This year, Auckland Council have restored another version to the area:

"A historic Auckland landmark is about to be reinstated after a seven-year project to rebuild three street lamps in Ponsonby. The lamps sat on top of a pole in a Ponsonby intersection after they were installed in 1873, giving the area the name "Three Lamps". Now, after seven years' effort to get them back, the Auckland Council's Waitemata Local Board has given the go-ahead for replica lamps to be made from drawings and photographs and put up on an 11m pole at a cost of about $100,000. The pole will not be on its original site in the middle of the intersection but on the footpath a few metres away." 

It was a project started by the previous Western Bays Community Board, but the project's gestation took it through into the new political era.

Now, the replica, designed by David Gilbert, are up and shining. Tonight, I went looking for them.

Please excuse the quality of the night time shots. I'm a daylight photo amateur ...

Very impressive, I must say -- and apparently going down well with the locals. I do tend to think of them as "George's Lights", though -- George Farrant of both the old Auckland City Council and new Auckland Council was such a fervent supporter of the restoration. Well done to all concerned.