Carting Lane - London's Last Sewer Lamp

Round the corner from the Savoy Hotel is Carting Lane, which is best known as “Farting Lane” made famous by the Sewer Lamp suspended in between the Strand and Victoria Embankment Gardens. It is said that the lamp is the last surviving Victorian sewage lamp.

The lamp was made by Joseph Webb as a Webb Patent Sewer Lamp in the late 19th century. It was then partly powered by the town’s gas supplies and partly powered by - ahem - the methane gas collected from waste from the sewage system running through the Savoy Hotel. A good invention at the time as it - like a candle - burned off the smell of the sewage and germs as well as providing light to the street. The lamp is hollow so that the gas can travel up the lamp to keep it alight. The lamp itself now only runs on gas.

Some time ago, a lorry reversed into the lamp causing a haphazard to pedestrians so it was closed off. It was restored by Thames Gas engineers and is now protected by the London council of Westminster.

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