Event    From 28/1/1807 

first gas-lit street in the world

Categories: Engineering, Transport

The first public street lighting with gas was demonstrated in Pall Mall by Frederick Winsor in 1807. In January he lit the street and in June he put on a special gas-lit exhibition here, celebrating King George III's birthday. Lighting streets using gas quickly became very popular and there were once more than 60,000 gas lamps in London. Although most have been converted to electricity, there are still about 1,600 remaining, mainly on landmarks such as Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey. The Picture Source website gives a good history of gas street lighting.

Some lamps were lit by gas from sewers and one of these, in Carting Lane, still works. IanVisits has a good post on it.

Other firsts: IanVisits has a post about the first shopping street in the UK to be lit by electricity. And the Savoy Theatre was the first public building in the world to be lit throughout by electricity.

Londonist has a terrific post about early electric lighting events in London.

2022: Londonist report that these lamps are under threat: Save London's Gas Lamps: Campaign Grows To Keep Our Heritage Glowing.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
first gas-lit street in the world

Commemorated ati

First gas-lit street

City of Westminster Pall Mall. The first street in London to be lit by gas, ...

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Frederick Winsor

Plaque unveiled by Councillor Carolyn Keen, Lord Mayor of Westminster. At the...

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Other Subjects

First traffic lights in world

First traffic lights in world

Less than a month after the lights were installed the lamp blew up, seriously injuring the policeman who was operating it. See the IET and the Victorianist for two different takes on the story. 20...

Concept, Engineering, Science

1 memorial
Edmund Nuttall Limited

Edmund Nuttall Limited

Construction company with origins in the Netherlands.

Group, Engineering, Netherlands

1 memorial
Ludwig Wittgenstein

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Philosopher. Born Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein in Neuwaldeggerstrasse, Neuwaldegg, Vienna, into a very wealthy Jewish international family, but brought up a Catholic. Initially he studied mecha...

Person, Engineering, Philosophy, Austria

1 memorial
John Dixon

John Dixon

Civil Engineer from Newcastle. Freemason. His brother, Waynman, was an engineer and an Egyptologist so was used on the project to bring Cleopatra's Needle to London. There is a legend that Waynman ...

Person, Engineering, Egypt

1 memorial
Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice

Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice

Civil engineer. Born at Clogher, near Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. He worked on a wide range of projects around the world including the Forth Bridge, the Aswam Dam and the aborted Chignecto Ship ...

Person, Engineering, Canada, Egypt, Ireland, Scotland

7 memorials