Sole Remaining Gas Street Lamp in Glasgow Was Lit for the Last Time

Glasgow’s Last Gas Street Lamp Extinguished

1971 - Glasgow, Scotland

The sole remaining gas street lamp in Glasgow was lit for the final time, marking the symbolic end of the era of the “Leeries”—the lamplighters who had tended the city’s street lights since 1718, beginning with oil lamps.

The lamplighters were once a common sight in cities across Britain, manually lighting and extinguishing lamps at dusk and dawn. This act closed a chapter on more than two centuries of gas and oil street lighting.