Cambridge street lights stolen from city center

The historic lamps come from locations in Cambridge

Hugh Venables/Geograph A lamp on the street in Cambridge. There is a railing at the back covered with posters and bikes are tied to the railing. There is a church on the left — The historic lamps come from locations in Cambridge

Three unique street lamps have been stolen from central Cambridge in what experts are calling a ‘heritage crime’.

Known as Richardson candle lamps, they were installed in several streets in the 1950s, based on a design seen at the 1951 Festival of Britain.

The listed lights appear to have been taken from Jesus Lane, St John’s Street and Trumpington Street at various times between around September 13 and October 1, Cambridgeshire Police said.

The provincial government said the missing lanterns would be replaced, but could not say how long that could take.

This tubular lantern was taken from the top of the pole

Hugh Venables/GEOGRAPH Top of a lamp in Cambridge. It is a tubular design and is long and thin — This tubular lantern was taken from the top of the pole

The lights in Cambridge were designed by architect Sir Albert Edward Richardson, who was commissioned in 1957 to design bespoke new street lighting for the city. according to Historical England.

Richardson didn’t have much time for modern lighting and described a new concrete street lamp outside his home in Bedfordshire as “a monstrosity”.

The vertical tube lanterns became known as Richardson candles. Nearly half of the buildings installed in the 1950s are still alive and all have Grade II listed status.

A spokesperson for Historic England said: “Richardson’s candle street lighting is a distinctive feature of Cambridge city center and is Grade II listed.

“We are aware of the unexplained disappearance of three of the lamps and have offered our support and advice to Cambridgeshire Police in their investigation into this apparent heritage crime.”

The Museum of Cambridge, that equipped with the lamps described them in his project Capturing Cambridge as “a design unique to Cambridge”.

The lights were installed in Trumpington Street, St John’s Street, Trinity Street, Silver Street and King’s Parade.

Cambridgeshire Police said the first report of theft was received on October 3, when it was reported that a lantern had been stolen from Trumpington Street sometime since October 1.

A second theft was reported on October 8 involving a lamp stolen from Jesus Lane between September 13 and 14.

The third was reported on October 24, involving a lantern taken from St John’s Street between September 23 and October 23.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire County Council said: ‘We are aware that three lanterns have been removed in Cambridge.

“A report has been made to the police and we are working with our contractors to replace these lights.”