Why Canterbury’s historic streetlights are being lost
Canterbury’s distinctive cast-iron streetlights – many still stamped with the old Canterbury City Corporation crest – are under threat. Kent County Council (KCC) is condemning these historic columns and intends to replace them with generic steel poles fitted with standardised “heritage-style” embellishments.
These streetlights are not being lost because of a single bad decision, a sudden safety issue, or a lack of money. They are being lost, in part, because Canterbury City Council does not have a clear, adopted streetscape or public realm policy for its historic areas.
In the absence of that framework, decisions about the city’s everyday fabric – street lighting, paving, materials and detailing – are being taken piecemeal, scheme by scheme, often by default rather than by design. That is the nub of the issue.
Residents and heritage groups, including the Canterbury Society, the Alliance of Canterbury Residents Associations (ACRA) and the Oaten Hill and South Canterbury Association (OHSCA), are calling on Canterbury City Council to put clear controls and guidance in place, including the use of an emergency Article 4 Direction where appropriate, to protect these features before they are lost.
These elegant cast-iron columns are a unique part of Canterbury’s civic and industrial heritage. They were produced by H.M. Biggleston & Sons, a Canterbury ironworks founded in 1835 and located in the heart of the city. The firm supplied lamp posts to the City for nearly 130 years and, from 1908, became a leading manufacturer of electric street lighting equipment, supplying fittings across Britain and overseas. The foundry finally closed in 1963, but replica Biggleston-style columns continued to be installed and repaired in Canterbury well into the 21st century – with examples recorded as recently as 2023.
“These lamp columns are as much a part of Canterbury’s story as its walls or gates, — they are a tangible links to a Canterbury firm whose craftsmanship literally helped light cities across the world.
To replace them with mass-produced steel poles is cultural vandalism.”
As a World Heritage City, Canterbury has a statutory duty to protect not just landmark buildings, but the wider streetscape that forms their setting. While KCC carries out highway works under its statutory powers, Canterbury City Council is responsible for planning, conservation and setting the standards that guide what replacement should look like in historic areas.
Under planning law, CCC can issue an emergency Article 4 Direction to withdraw permitted development rights for the replacement or alteration of street lighting within the city’s Conservation Areas. This would bring such works under planning control and require formal permission for any future replacements – ensuring consistency and heritage-appropriate design.
“Kent County Council maintains street lighting and replaces columns when they fail….
…where Canterbury City Council has not set clear streetscape standards for conservation areas, replacements default to generic solutions under permitted development, rather than being guided by a coherent local framework.”
Residents can already see the consequences. In some locations, particularly within City Council-led £20m Levelling Up Fund projects, cast-iron columns are being repainted or replicated as valued heritage assets. In nearby streets, identical columns are being removed or replaced, while temporary steel columns installed years ago remain unresolved. Design quality varies from street to street, with no clear rationale. This is exactly what happens when there is no agreed framework to guide decisions.
The campaign is not calling for blanket retention or unlimited spending. It is asking Canterbury City Council, as Local Planning Authority, to do what only it can do: put in place clear streetscape and public realm guidance for historic areas, treat heritage street furniture as an asset rather than an inconvenience, and ensure that like-for-like repair or genuinely appropriate replica replacement becomes the default. Decisions should be consistent, transparent and deliberate, not ad-hoc.
An emergency Article 4 Direction is one possible tool, but it is not the core issue. Until the policy gap is filled, the same piecemeal losses will continue, not just to streetlights but to paving, lighting character and other elements of the public realm.
A petition calling on Canterbury City Council to act has been launched by the Canterbury Society and will be formally presented to Cllr Alan Baldock, Leader of the Council.
Heritage Streetlights – Your Questions Answered
What’s happening to Canterbury’s cast-iron streetlights?
Kent County Council (KCC) has started removing some of Canterbury’s historic cast-iron “Biggleston” columns and replacing them with modern steel ones. This has happened because many cast-iron columns are ageing, and KCC has safety obligations as the Highways Authority.
Why are residents concerned?
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The original columns are a distinctive part of Canterbury’s character, especially in Conservation Areas. The steel replacements are generic and out of keeping with the historic streetscape. People want reassurance that any replacements will respect the city’s heritage. |
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Who is responsible for what?
- KCC owns and maintains the lighting on the highway.
- Canterbury City Council (CCC) is the Local Planning Authority and holds the powers to protect heritage and set design standards in Conservation Areas.
KCC carries out the physical work.
CCC controls how that work should look in heritage areas.
Why hasn’t this been sorted out already?
An extensive set of correspondence (2020–2024), released under Environmental Information Regulations (EIR), shows that:
- KCC repeatedly asked CCC for heritage guidance and design approval.
- CCC didn’t provide a clear written position.
- No Heritage Impact Assessment, specification or design standard was ever completed.
- Decisions stalled, meaning KCC acted alone under safety obligations.
Only recently – with the potential for mass-scale removal of these columns – has the issue received prominent attention, which is finally prompting movement.
Why can’t CCC just refuse the steel replacements?
CCC can influence what gets installed. They have the power to:
- issue an Article 4 Direction, removing KCC’s automatic permitted-development rights;
- require like-for-like reinstatement using the Biggleston casting moulds created under the Levelling Up Fund programme;
- introduce a Local Development Order (LDO) setting clear standards for lighting, materials and reinstatement in Conservation Areas.
These tools have not yet been used.
What about the Biggleston cast-iron moulds?
CCC already holds the mould created during the LUF public-realm works.
This allows proper replicas to be made at any time.
KCC has asked to discuss using it. CCC needs to confirm in writing whether this is required.
Has the steel design been approved by CCC?
No.
The steel column and embellishment kit currently in use have not been formally approved by CCC’s heritage or planning teams. KCC proceeded because they were unable to obtain a decision and had safety pressures.
Are the original columns unsafe?
A small number of poorly maintained columns may require additional work. The safety of individual columns should be assessed properly, but most can be restored.
Replacement should only happen where genuinely required – and where it does, like-for-like heritage reinstatement should be the standard.
Is there a map of these?
We’ve created a public map showing every cast-iron column across the district, using KCC’s own street-lighting inventory data. You can explore it below (or here):
The map lets you:
- see exactly where the heritage columns are located
- understand which streets and neighbourhoods are affected
- zoom in street-by-street
- and check how many columns remain in each area.
It is the first time this information has been available to the public in a single, accessible format.
my father worked at Biggleston foundry. Seeing those lamp posts disappear one by one breaks my heart. They’re part of our city’s story made here, for here you can’t just replace that with a bit of steel tubing from a Freemans catalogue.
I walk past these every day on the school run they’re part of what makes Canterbury feel like Canterbury.
It’s honestly wild that they’re replacing perfectly good posts instead of just repainting them.
We talk about sustainability all the time, and this is literally the opposite!! throwing away something that’s lasted a century for new steel that’ll need replacing again in 20 years. Heritage is sustainability.
These should be listed in order to protect them
The original lamppost in Castle Street by the junction with St John’s Lane was knocked down by a lorry some years ago and attempts to get the Council to replace it with the same kind have failed. They have placed a straight steel lamppost next to the bandaged stump of the old one which remains where it was. The local residents association have not replied to my recent messages to get them involved in this issue.
I’ve gladly signed the petition, as a lover of Canterbury and its rich heritage. Such treasures must be defended against ignorant vandals and cheapskates.
I, and my darling late wife, Charlotte, visited the beautiful city of Canterbury some years ago and to learn, via the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme, that these beautiful and iconic streetlights are to be replaced by characterless modern alternatives, is a shortsighted act of negligence by Kent County Council (KCC). I sincerely hope that the petition will send a clear message to KCC that some things are worth saving and preserving.
“Big Yellow Taxi” was a song originally written and sung by the Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, the main chorus lines from which are:
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
I think this would be a fitting sentiment to add to the arguments being put to the council.
Can alamp post be listed? Yes , please!!
Like the cast iron lamp posts on the Chelsea Embankment the cast iron lamp posts of Canterbury are iconic. Part of the City’s rich heritage and history they must where they are in good condition be retained and not replaced by cheap to maintain modern posts. As it is they enhance the ambiance of the city especially when one wanders into the centre at dusk on a murky afternoon.
The council seem to want to remove all heritage character from Canterbury. Lamp post, old paving, signage, front of shops.
This is totally unacceptable – why would any sane person do this? The streetlights are some of thew oldest examples in the world. Last year i did some design work for the Foundry brewpub and one of the premium bottles of Whisky features one of the street lights on the front.