British Military Hospital ER-I

Submitted by dailoban on Sun, 04/19/2009 - 18:33

Hi,

I went to revisit the old british military hospital, as for the longest time in my mind i remembered seeing ER-I on all the drain pipes.  I knew what ERII meant, but not ERI.  As i looked today again, I confirmed all the pipes did have ER-I on them.

Does anyone know what ER-I stands for?

Cheers

Danny

Sorry, no idea what that stands for. Any chance you can share a photo with us?

These are the boxes on every one of the drain pipes at the former British Military Hospital on Bowen Rd.  Sorry for the quality, was taken with my blackberry. Will go back and take a higher res later.

E.R.I.

 

Sorry, still no idea. It might turn out to be something as simple as the manufacturer of the iron work. It'll be worth keeping an eye out on other colonial-era buildings to see if they have the same.

They certainly look built to last!

Asked aroud and found out that because Edward VII was kind of england at the time the hospital was built, most likely was ERI for him (he ruled until 1910). Although he was Edward VII his seal would still have been ERI.  Just double checked that, and ERI stands for Eduardus Rex Imperator, and Queen Victoria had VRI - Victoria Regina Imperatrix.

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Submitted by
Vinnie (not verified)
on
Wed, 04/22/2009 - 08:24

Perhaps this could be a Royal monogram.  Researching rain gutters on the web, I found that this box is a "hopper head."  Apparently during Victorian and Edwardian times, cast iron hopper heads were ornamental, contributing to a building's architectural heritage by displaying the date the building was erected, a coat of arms, an emblem or initials in addition to collecting rain water.  So says a manufacturer of traditional rain collection systems, that is.  Not being an architectural historian, hopefully this is helpful to finding the answer...

Vinnie.