Tucked away just off London’s iconic Strand and directly behind the glamorous Savoy Hotel lies one of London’s quirkiest street lights; and its fascinating history certainly does stink! Take a stroll down Carting Lane and you’ll stumble across the last surviving Victorian sewage lamp, which has given this charming street the nickname Farting Lane. Yes—you read that correctly—Farting Lane; a nickname that’s just as cheeky and humorous as the lamp’s function.
Invented in the late 19th century by Birmingham’s Joseph Webb, the Webb Patent Sewer Gas Lamp was yet another clever Victorian invention, designed to tackle a very humdrum conundrum: the nocious methane gas that was bubbling from London’s sewers. The solution? To capture this stinky gas and burn it off in a continuous flame, lighting up the streets while maintaining the sewer gases from below.
The final Webb Patent Sewer Gas Lamp
These weren’t just any gas lamps; the flames were continuously burning 24/7, partly powered by town gas but also the methane collected from the sewers beneath the city. They were all the rage, but there were a couple of incidents which lead to their decline, including smelly leaks and a few minor explosions.
However, one still remains and you can still witness it in all its cast-iron beauty on Carting Lane—though it did take a hit from a lorry recently, which resulted in a restoration project. It still burns off residual biogas, remaining a glowing reminder of Victorian London, its innovation and well, its horrific smell.
So, the next time you’re strolling through central London near the Strand, pop down Farting Lane to salute the city’s last methane-quaffing lamp—truly one of London’s more quirky history hotspots that lights up the night in the most unexpected ways.