The lantern was one of the first I obtained for the collection, being rescued from Surrey Council's depot in 1994. It originally stood somewhere in Cheam Village, South London, on a large Lucy swan-neck bracket. It immediately stood out as an unique lantern, as it was a much older version of the Holophane lanterns which had been sparsely installed in an ESLA / GEC installation.

The lantern's body is of two-part cast iron construction with a spun steel enamelled over reflector. The Holophane Duo Dome refractor is held in place with three copper hooks. (The use of hooks to hold refractors was discontinued in the early 1950s, so this lantern probably dates from the 1940s or the late 1930s).

The knurled nut on top of the lantern's canopy allows the bulb to be focused. It engages with a metal bridge within the lantern's body on which the bulbholder is secured. By rotating the nut, the bulbholder is moved up and down within the body of the lantern. Wary that turning this nut could be difficult (as can be seen in this case), the lighting engineer could also turn the thread by using a screwdriver up through the base of the lantern.

Primary light control was by means of the Duo Dome refractor. In this case, the distribution is 75^o, suggesting the lantern was used to light a straight section of road. Secondary light control was provided by the large enamelled over reflector. Considering it was probably in service for over 50 years, it's in superb condition.

When installed in Sutton, the lantern was painted silver. I originally restored it in green, but have switched to white to match the GEC Ushaw bracket the lantern's now installed on.

This lantern is one of the rarest in the collection. There's another example on the back streets of Merton, South London (a borough which did install Holophane equipment) and one in the street lighting museum at CU Phosco.