St Ives gasworks

St Ives gasworks

The discovery of gas distillation from coal happened through a series of experiments in the 1700s. While others noticed that coal heated in a vacuum released a flammable spirit, Scottish engineer William Murdoch first harnessed it for practical use in 1792. He heated coal in a closed iron retort, producing a gas that could be piped and burned to provide a steady, bright light.

A Peep at the Gas Lights in Pall Mall, Thomas Rowlandson, 1809.

The world’s first public demonstration of gas street lighting took place in Pall Mall, London, in 1807. It was a sensation. Before this, cities were pitch black or poorly lit by dim oil lamps. The artificial sunlight of gas transformed London into a 24-hour city. More cities followed London’s lead, and by the 1830s, medium-sized provincial towns formed their own private gas companies, viewing the “illuminating power” as a symbol of Victorian progress and civic pride.

Mass production

Large-scale manufacturing of gas was driven by Frederick Winsor, a German-born entrepreneur. He realised that for gas to be profitable, it needed to be produced on a massive scale and distributed through a network of pipes. In 1812, he founded the Gas Light and Coke Company, the world’s first gas utility, proving that gas could be manufactured centrally to serve an entire city.

Coal gas process.

Production relied on destructive distillation. Coal was placed inside airtight vessels called retorts and heated to roughly 1000°C. Since there was no oxygen, the coal didn’t burn; instead, it broke down chemically. The resulting raw gas was pulled through a series of cooling pipes and “scrubbers” to remove impurities before being stored in massive, telescopic iron tanks known as gasholders or gasometers.

By-products

Gasworks were efficient, extracting gas and leaving behind coke, a high-carbon fuel for home heating. Coal tar, a liquid residue, became the foundation of the modern chemical industry, used for dyes, aspirin, and road surfacing. Ammoniacal liquor was also collected and sold as fertiliser.

Dangers

The industry was volatile, with explosions a constant threat if air leaked into storage tanks. Coal gas contained high levels of carbon monoxide, making leaks in homes deadly. The environmental impact was severe, with toxic phenols and heavy metals contaminating the soil around gasworks.

Famous catastrophes included the 1865 explosion at the Nine Elms Gas Works in London, which killed ten people and flattened nearby houses, and the 1814 London Beer Flood, which highlighted the dangers of large industrial vats, a fear that translated to the massive gasholders looming over victorian slums.

Jobs

Gasworks were complex ecosystems, managed by engineers, Clerks handling accounts, and lamplighters igniting town burners. The most vital and gruelling roles belonged to the stokers in the retort house.

Drawing the Retorts at the Great Gas Light Establishment, London, 1821.

The industrial age’s most arduous workers, stokers shovelled tons of coal into white-hot retorts and raked out glowing coke in ‘draws’. The searing heat and thick coal dust and sulphur fumes caused ‘gas eye’ and chronic respiratory issues, all while working 12-hour shifts in a permanent state of dehydration.

Arrival at St Ives

For the size of the town, St Ives was an early adopter. James Mallam, a gas pioneer, constructed the gasworks at St Ives in the late 1830s on London Road. George Bower, a gas engineer from St Neots, was the owner of the St Ives Gas Company. Strategically placed near the river and later the railway, the gasworks used Newcastle coal for the town’s first streetlights, allowing local markets and the Quay to remain active long after sunset, boosting the town's economy.

In 1851, there were complaints of poor lighting. The gas company wrote to the Improvement Commissioners asking for details of complaints. They got no answer and wrote to the Cambridge Independent Press. Maybe things weren't so bad after all.

The by-product gas tar was used for waterproofing. A St Ives Gas Company advert from 1860 indicated the scale of production, offering 20,000 gallons of gas tar at one penny a gallon, less than 50p today.

1892 map of St Ives gasworks.

Initially expensive, gas became more efficient with the invention of the Bunsen burner and gas mantle in the 1880s. In 1887 St Ives Gas Company gave exhibitions of gas appliances for cooking and heating, even a gas washing machine. Madam Alting-Lees gave lessons in high-class cookery.

In 1888, William Best, the manager of the gasworks, got a tremendous scare. A large elephant escaped from the circus of John Sanger and Son, which was temporarily in St Ives. Overnight, the elephant escaped from its quarters, broke gates, fences, and a brick wall, and headed down London Road, consuming onions and apples. Mr Palling’s baboon gave ten thousand shrieks of terror at the sight of the elephant (St Ives residents clearly had a diverse collection of pets). The elephant ended up at the gasworks, where it scared William Best, caused damage, and released 2,000 cubic feet of gas. Circus employees rushed to collect the elephant.

The introduction of pre-payment meters allowed working-class families to use gas  in the home, leading to the extension of the gasworks in 1889 and again in 1922. By the early 1900s, nearly every household in St Ives had a gas cooking stove. At its peak, St Ives gasworks consumed 3,900 tons of coal per year, producing 60 millions cubic feet of coal gas. Originally the gas holder contained 4,000 cubic feet of gas, about half a day's supply for the town. By the 1950s, St Ives consumed six times that amount.

Decline

In 1949, the gas industry was nationalised and St Ives gasworks became part of the Eastern Gas Board. Gradually, smaller gasworks were replaced by larger, more efficient locations. St Ives gasworks closed in 1958. A new showroom and place to pay your gas bill opened at the Broadway.

St Ives gasworks, 1950s.

The introduction of North Sea gas marked the end for local production. Following the 1965 discovery of natural offshore reserves, a massive decade-long conversion programme began in 1967. As natural gas replaced coal gas, hundreds of gasworks across Britain were decommissioned. By 1977, the era of manufacturing gas had completely vanished, leaving only the iconic gasholders as silent sentinels of a bygone industry.

The St Ives gasworks site, once a Vauxhall dealer and repairer, is now vacant and unloved, waiting for someone to clean up the toxic ground.

Mason dynasty

William Mason, the last manager, succeeded his father in 1942. After the gasworks closed he lived on at Arona Villa, the manager’s house, with his wife, four children, and Doris Holmes, wife of Harry Holmes, for about twenty years until his death. One daughter worked during World War II reading gas meters in St Ives.

A granddaughter recalls playing near the gas holder and coal piles before the site closed, frightened by the noise and heat from the retort sheds.