Ancient Lights - 24 January 2008

On our Saturday walk we came across two buildings with signs simply stating “Ancient Lights”. The fact that one of them was right beside a light fitting that appeared to have come from the 19th century had nothing to do with it.

“Ancient Lights” is a legal phrase that confers special protection to a window. If the window bas been enjoying natural light for over 20 years then it is illegal to obstruct the natural light that the building receives.

We also passed a few other ancient lights as well; a couple of them were gas-lamps.