City Electric & Light (CEL) Company Manhole Cover

This cast iron manhole cover with timber inlays is a rare surviving example of a City Electric and Light Company (CEL) manhole cover from the early twentieth century. It is one of a series of manhole covers and cast iron junction boxes that were placed along CBD roads and footpaths, that facilitated the spread of an electricity grid throughout Brisbane. It is a remnant of the important City Electric and Light (CEL) Company while the timber inserts are rare evidence of the wood-block paving that covered Queen Street in the late nineteenth century.