Street furniture
coal hole covers
Along the pavements of St John’s Wood one may discover attractive coal hole plates – these were lifted up by delivery men and the coal was poured straight into coal cellars so that dirty sacks did not have to be carried though the houses and minimised the distance the sacks had to be carried.
The plates are cast iron and, usually, 12-14 inches in diameter; they are circular, because this means the cover cannot accidentally fall through its own hole. They can be rolled rather than lifted and have no corners to damage. There was an internal latch to prevent them being opened from outside. Different companies had different designs and various patterns can be found.
This page was added on 09/03/2012.
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Vintage street signby Pia Gemma
Hello, would anyone be able to determine the approximate age of this street sign in Abercorn Place
thank you
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