Banger (John Light)

An English merchant who had a tall column built on the beach of this city; it came to be known as Banger’s pillar. In 1801 he was granted a privilege by the Council to use an estufa (heated store for ageing Madeira wine) intended for purifying grain.

The construction of Banger’s pillar was completed in 1798 and cost 1,350 pounds sterling. In its early days the pillar carried cranes that were used to transfer goods from the boats to the shore; at present it serves as a signal post for the firm of Blandy.

The Pilar de Banger (‘Banger’s pillar’), so much appreciated by Madeirans and so well known to all who landed at the quay of the Entrada da Cidade (‘entrance to the city’), was demolished in 1939, despite protests from the local press and without any weighty reasons that could fully justify its demolition.

A few days before this outrage was carried out, a newspaper in this city published the following words, which we wish to preserve here for the record: The outrage is about to be consummated. The death sentence has been decreed. The typical, original and characteristic obelisk of Rua da Praia must vanish from the face of the earth. Within a few days it will be inexorably cast into the deepest pits of oblivion. So the lofty destinies of human affairs have decided. No stay, no pardon, no commutation of sentence can be obtained. Let this most fateful sentence be carried out without delay and without the slightest recourse, appeal or plea.

It is clearly not a work of art that ought to be religiously respected, nor a historical memento that would need defending, nor an archaeological object worthy of study that it would be proper to preserve. Everyone knows this and everyone acknowledges it.

But, as has been said again and again, the truth is that the old and interesting pillar has created an atmosphere of its own in the spot where it proudly rises, giving it a very special and very characteristic appearance that deserved to be reverently preserved with the greatest affection, respect and esteem. Everyone knows that for more than a century (the old column has existed for 49 years) engravings, lithographs, oil paintings and, in our own day, photographs have endlessly reproduced this spot and its surroundings. It forms an integral part of our magnificent landscape as seen from the sea, and it never fails to be admired and appreciated by the hundred thousand visitors who come to us every year.