The Maldon Town Lamp
The Maldon Town Lamp
Founded and forged in the Victorian Goldfields.
The Maldon Town Lamp is perfectly recreated from the Victorian Gold Rush era, where most small towns made their own lamps locally and did so with limited resources.
Created in Maldon sometime around the 1880's to light the public spaces in front of the town's areas of evening gatherings such hotels and churches.
Only a handful of Maldon Lamps were made and they would have been lost to time, if it were not for one very old and wonderfully preserved photograph.
Remaking the Maldon Town Lamp
While the style and impressive size of the lamp are wonderful, it is the story which is truly wonderful and worth preserving.
A rare photo of the Maldon Welsh Baptist Church showed the lamp in incredible quality. A fence which is still in place today and the church brick wall background made for a perfect reference for scale.
Back in the day… Maldon, as the residents will quickly tell you, was Australia’s First Notable Town. Almost overnight the town became a pivotal part of Australia’s gold rush. From the time it took to whisper “there is gold in them thar hills” Maldon went from a cattle run to having 30,000 desperate souls in just under a month.
With rapid change comes, the makeshift and ramshackle. For those towns lucky enough the makeshift would be followed by the grand and established. The Maldon ‘Town’ Lamp is from somewhere in the middle. While at one point amongst the richest places on Earth Maldon never became as grand as its more famous Goldfield cousins.
The original Maldon Lamp was placed just out front the Maldon Welsh Baptist church front window. The placement was at head height and right on the footpath outside the small vestibule church entry window. This definitely seems odd today as the lamp would not survive today’s safety standards not to mention the present lack of respect for public property, however the placement was so the locals could view the week's sermon times which were posted in the window.
A romantic or creative person could picture the churches congregation on their way from the famous Maldon Kangaroo Hotel to their hut in the diggings The lamp itself, would have most likely have been the only lighting on the way home, as like most towns the size of Maldon at the time street lighting was sparse to non-existent.
How the lamp came to be. The original lamp didn't have to travel far to its home outside the Welsh Baptist Church, it was made at the Calder Foundry and Iron Monger on a strangely named goldfield lane called Dolphin Street about 150km from the nearest ocean. The foundry and the strangely named street was located no further than 50 meters away from where the lamp was to spend its lifetime and to where it would eventually be photographed and in turn found again.
Get one of your own
Become part of the story and help preserve an important part of the Victorian goldfield history.
Get one of your own
-
A unique lamp with small production runs
-
Preserve an almost forgotten feature of the Victorian goldfields
-
Solar lighting removes cost installation costs
-
Adaptable to gas or mains power
-
Customisable lamp and post colours
Every Maldon Lamp is hand made and can be tailored to suit its location. We have created a base model which is solar powered and is true goldfield ‘Utilitarian’ in all the best respects.
The Maldon ‘Town’ Lamp - ‘Utilitarian’
$3,200
Includes solar enabled and aesthetic only mantel
A specialist fabricator Brandan Parrett worked using the same techniques as used back in the day. Considerations were made as to how to increase the safety and longevity and general needs of the modern world.
Remaining true to the original lamp design meant the lamp had to run on gas and electricity. The addition of a solar powered lamp was the most substantial change, as it was important to us that the cost of installation of the lamp would not double the cost and prevent people from acquiring one.
Standard Specifications & Installation
Standard Specifications & Installation
-
Solar Light and Panel
-
Lamp Head Measurements
-
Post
-
Footings
-
Foundation
Options
-
Mains Gas or 240v Versions
-
Posts
-
Colouring
-
Wall Mounted