1837 - 1969

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The iconic Windsor Lamp in 1906, 8 years after it was introduced

The 1898 Windsor lamp was the first lantern designed specifically for use with the gas mantle as opposed to open flame. In the early years the Windsor was fitted with upright mantle burners, finally converting to the inverted burner in the early years of the 20th century.

The extraordinary success of the Windsor lamp is indicated by the statement on this catalogue cover that "50,000 of our 'Windsor' Lamps are now in use".  Every manufacturer eventually produced a similar fixture and right up to date, now more than 100 years after this catalogue, the Windsor Lamp is still manufactured by Sugg Lighting, with a version still available 'in gas'!  How many Windsor lamps must there be in total?

The Windsor model illustrated above is the first design with both a steeper 'tent' or roof than is familiar today  and a scalloped 'cap'.  It is also shown here with 'William Sugg's Patent Combined Cast Iron Base and Ball Trap Door, with Lever Cock, fitted with Sugg's Anti-vibrating Incandescent Gas Burner, Mantle and Glass Mantle Protector'.

Produced in 3 sizes, 14", 16" and 18" (this is the width of the lantern at its widest point) these sizes are effectively the common standard for street lighting and you will find earlier lamps are often of a similar size - before the introduction of the large lanterns described in that section. 

This particular variant in 1906 is priced from 40s 9d (£2.04) to 71s 3d (£3.56) from the smallest with an 85 candle burner to the largest with two 5 feet consumption burners producing 280 candles.

The catalogue illustrates this same lantern sold without a burner for 34/- (£1.70) or, with a standard 4-legged 'frog' in place of the cast iron base and no ball trap door for just 28/- (£1.40)!

These four Windsor lanterns have an upright mantle with a patent anti-vibrator designed to reduce mantle breakage.  The two on the left have 'patent ball traps' in the bases indicating that these lamps are still lit by a lamplighter.  The two on the right have permanent pilots so that the lamplighter only had to turn the tap or lever.  Not only did this reduce the time taken lighting the lamps but significantly reduced the damage cause by inserting the lamplighter's torch inside the lantern - in a hurry!

The 'ball trap' is an ingenious but simple means of sealing the base but allowing the lamplighter's torch to be pushed up inside the lamp.  A ball sits in and seals the lighting aperture until the end of the lamplighter's torch pushes it up and it rolls along a 'track' and then returns when the torch is removed.  

These two illustrations show the Windsor lamp with the later inverted mantle burner and one of a number of later devices to improve lighting performance, the 'Multiray' reflector. 
The section drawing shows the elements of the vertical balanced flue arrangement which made it such a good gas lamp.  The body of the lantern is 'sealed' with the base being glazed with two glass 'slips' either side of a central copper channel through which the gas burner was fed.  The heat and the products of combustion pass up the tapered chimney from the burner and pass out of the lamp under the 'cap' which protects the chimney from the rain.  The air for combustion is drawn in under the bottom edge of the 'ogee' which is the spinning that sits on the 'tent' or roof of the lantern passing down around the outside of the chimney and then over the edge of the reflector into the body of the lamp. 
This arrangement ensured that there was no undue air movement, irrespective of the wind conditions, because the combustion air and the products of combustion both entered and left the lamp close together.
The section drawing also shows how the burner was positioned and fed through one corner of the reflector with the airchamber and main injector high up in the lamp.
The 'tent' is removable and the reflector is attached to it by means of bent copper tags in each corner.   The burner superheater and the formed piece of burner tube slide onto the nose of the airchamber for ease of removal.

UNDER CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT - PLEASE TRY AGAIN LATER

Copyright © Chris Sugg 2006

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