Rotherhithe Gas Works
From London's Ghost Acres
Revision as of 11:06, 18 January 2016 by EliseLehmann (Talk | contribs)
Operation
1851 to 1959
Location
Located in
Produced
Gas, Tar, Coke, Ammonia, Sulphur
Used Raw Materials
|1851 |1879 |Surrey Consumers Gas Company |-
|1879 |1959 |South Metropolitan Gas Company |-
|1851
|1959
|Coal Gas Industry
|-
Description
The Rotherhithe Gas Works were built in 1851 (Pedroche). Under the South Metropolitan Gas Light and Coke Company, the works at Rotherhithe were “extended to 6.5 acres including a frontage to the Lower Pool. After the Second World War, the capacity of the works rose to 9.6 million cubic feet per day” (Burland 120).
Gas works were used to produce and store flammable coal gas. Coal was mined in Britain and then shipped on a barge up rivers or on trains to the gas works. There it was burned to create the gas, which was then purified and put into the gas holders until needed for consumer use to light streets and buildings. The process also created coke, tar, ammonia, and sulphur as by-products.
51.50281, -0.04843, 51.50046, -0.050175
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/555e7faa-75c2-4385-8687-a5033f2d9633