Beckton Gasworks
See also Gas Light and Coke Co.
Named after Mr S. Adams Beck, governor of the Chartered Gas Co[1]. Beckton was several miles from the nearest village, East Ham. The company built a small village beside the road into the works for key operators; this included churches, shops, a post office and a public house.
1868 Construction began.
1870 Production of gas started at Beckton. Crude tar from Beckton was conveyed by barge to other works for distillation; the largest of these in the area was Burt, Boulton and Haywood, with works at Prince Regent's Wharf, Silvertown and at Millwall.
1870 Description of extensive iron aqueducts erected at the gasworks [2]
1870 Gas production at the gasworks was 10m Cubic feet per day
1871 Reference to Beckton Road, leading to the Chartered Gas Light and Coke Co's works at Barking[3]
By 1876 the Company served the whole of London north of the Thames, except for Poplar, Stepney and parts of Westminster, Chelsea and Fulham. A 48-inch gas main was built to convey gas to the city of London; 4 horizontal retort houses (increased to 14 by 1897, but reduced back to 9 by 1957) and 4 holders (rising to 9). The retort houses were originally hand charged, but later became increasingly mechanised, evolving from rope-driven to electrically-driven machinery.
The company decided to process its tar and ammonia by-products, where it could more profitably process the tar and ammonia by-products produced.
1879 Opening of the Beckton Products Works were built on a site adjacent to the gas works. Another by-product, coke, was sold to a wide domestic market.
The rapid expansion of the Gas Light and Coke Co led to the need for a large transport fleet. Every type of transport was used and usually owned by the company. Shipping, barges and railway engines were often used for the import and export of coal and by-products at the works. Road transport ranging from horse drawn carts to wagons catered for other supplies and maintenance needs.
1889 Men were laid off from Beckton, prompting the founding of the National Union of Gasworkers and General Labourers, which subsequently became part of the General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trades Union (GMB Union).
1890 CWG was introduced at an early stage in its deployment
1912 The CWG was modernised.
1926 10th July. His Majesty the King, who was accompanied by the Queen, visited the Beckton Gasworks of the Gas Light and Coke Co and formally opened the new coal handling plant. The combined equipment of cranes and conveyors, which, when completed will be capable of dealing with 2000 tons of coal per hour, is claimed by the owners to be the largest installation of its kind in Europe.[4]
1931 Coke Ovens were installed, with 5 batteries constructed by 1956.
1949 Vested in the North Thames Gas Board from the Gas Light and Coke Company.
1953-54 The CWG plant was modernised again.
1956 Gas production at the works reached 158m Cubic feet per day.
1960s Gas Reforming plant was constructed at the site
1969 The gasworks closed, following conversion to natural gas.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Engineer 1870/02/04
- ↑ Engineering 1870/03/18
- ↑ Gazette Issue 21 April 1871
- ↑ The Engineer 1926/07/16 p 69 - p 71 for full details
- Chemicals from Coal by C A Townsend [1]
- The Manufactured Gas Industry in England: Volume 3 Gazetteer. Historic England