A few miles outside London was an institution of learning which may well have had an interest in coal gas for lighting (or perhaps for use in explosives). This was the military research complex at Woolwich.
Woolwich has had very little attention as an academic centre, but in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was home to one of the few institutions in the Britain where research staff were employed on technical subjects. An examination of the Woolwich rate books reveals an astonishing number of Fellows of the Royal Society living in the neighbourhood.
Some of these Woolwich based scientists had a special interest in gases. For example, William Cruickshank, a chemist who lectured at the Royal Military Academy, published relevant papers before 1810. Later, another lecturer, J.MacCulloch, wrote on wood distillates10 ‑of particular relevance to a study of coal gas residuals.
There is, however, no evidence of direct research into coal gas at Woolwich. The only known gas making plant on site probably dates from the late 1850s. Nevertheless the establishment had several close links with the early gas industry. One prominent person involved in both these was the younger William Congreve who was Comptroller of the Royal Laboratory; based in Woolwich. He investigated the early London gas industry for the Government in 1823. Congreve also played a part in the industry as an inventor, a company backer and a promoter.
Another 'Chemist to the Ordnance' with an interest in gas was James Sadler, the balloonist. He had worked with James Watt on gas making equipment at the Bristol Hot Wells Institute which specialised in therapy based on a variety of gases. There is also a persistent story that he installed a gas making plant at Beaufoy's Vinegar Works in Lambeth.
It is not known why the interest in coal gas manufacture by some of the Woolwich establishment was not translated into an early gas making plant there. It has been suggested that there was a deliberate decision not to site a gas works in what became the Arsenal complex because of the perceived danger of explosion. However, the lack of an on-site gas works does not preclude experiments on coal gas supply nor does it detract from the importance of Woolwich-based researchers to the development of the process itself.
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
Friday, 7 August 2009
Gas and Water
As the industry increased and other gas works were opened, so the problem increased. The effect on the water systems was soon apparent. Many sewers were old natural watercourses into which domestic effluent ran, and from there into the Thames. While the waste was domestic and on a small scale it was acceptable, but the rise of large-scale industries - like gas - caused immediate problems. The Thames became seriously polluted. By the early 1820s the river was unfit 'for culinary purposes' as eels and fish died.
This had an immediate and serious effect on the Thames fishing industry. In 1815 there were been many fishermen between Dartford and Richmond. They had expected to catch around 10,000 salmon in season and 50,000 smelts each year. Within five years of the gas industry opening only half of the smelts were left and the salmon had all gone. Dead fish were found which smelled strongly of gas: 'The residue of the gas works.. floats on the surface in patches like oil'. It is in this period that Thames fishing as a major industry collapsed.
In 1822 the City of London successfully prosecuted the Chartered Co. 'on account of the communication between the works in Peter Street and the river Thames'. Indicative of the mood of the early 1820s is a Parliamentary Bill 'to prevent washings of substances from making of gas being conveyed into rivers' - presented, but never passed, in 1822.
The history of London's water/sewage system has been covered in a number of works, some written for a popular audience. These have often appeared as either engineering or local government problems. Both have concentrated on the solutions rather than the continuing problem. Such histories have tended to highlight successive cholera epidemics and the achievements of the Metropolitan Board of Works in the 1850s. Public discussion on London's water supply and disposal system had begun long before this and was gathering momentum as time went on.
A number of water supply companies had been set up in London in the early years of the century. Their establishment in many ways parallels that of the gas industry. Many of the same factors which affected the rise of the early gas industry in London influenced the water supply industry. Legislative, financial and technical developments are all important and sometimes complementary. The first cholera epidemic of 1827 provided a focus for continuing disquiet on provision and disposal of water. Initially attention was drawn to the sources from which water was drawn for distribution to the public. A Royal Commission into drinking water was set up. To them gas industry effluent was just one of many concerns.
Much later in the century these concerns were to come together with the engineering solutions of the Metropolitan Board of Works. Before this could take place, the tools for the analysis of water pollutants were developed. The story of Dr. Snow and the Broad Street pump is well known. However these two famous episodes in the history of the London cholera outbreaks and water supply are usually told today with the benefit of hindsight. In 1827 the problems were not so clear. Cholera was one problem - for which neither the cause nor the solution was known. Increasing pollution of water supply was another, different, problem - but one that caused disquiet and in which the new gas industry was seen to be a major player.
This had an immediate and serious effect on the Thames fishing industry. In 1815 there were been many fishermen between Dartford and Richmond. They had expected to catch around 10,000 salmon in season and 50,000 smelts each year. Within five years of the gas industry opening only half of the smelts were left and the salmon had all gone. Dead fish were found which smelled strongly of gas: 'The residue of the gas works.. floats on the surface in patches like oil'. It is in this period that Thames fishing as a major industry collapsed.
In 1822 the City of London successfully prosecuted the Chartered Co. 'on account of the communication between the works in Peter Street and the river Thames'. Indicative of the mood of the early 1820s is a Parliamentary Bill 'to prevent washings of substances from making of gas being conveyed into rivers' - presented, but never passed, in 1822.
The history of London's water/sewage system has been covered in a number of works, some written for a popular audience. These have often appeared as either engineering or local government problems. Both have concentrated on the solutions rather than the continuing problem. Such histories have tended to highlight successive cholera epidemics and the achievements of the Metropolitan Board of Works in the 1850s. Public discussion on London's water supply and disposal system had begun long before this and was gathering momentum as time went on.
A number of water supply companies had been set up in London in the early years of the century. Their establishment in many ways parallels that of the gas industry. Many of the same factors which affected the rise of the early gas industry in London influenced the water supply industry. Legislative, financial and technical developments are all important and sometimes complementary. The first cholera epidemic of 1827 provided a focus for continuing disquiet on provision and disposal of water. Initially attention was drawn to the sources from which water was drawn for distribution to the public. A Royal Commission into drinking water was set up. To them gas industry effluent was just one of many concerns.
Much later in the century these concerns were to come together with the engineering solutions of the Metropolitan Board of Works. Before this could take place, the tools for the analysis of water pollutants were developed. The story of Dr. Snow and the Broad Street pump is well known. However these two famous episodes in the history of the London cholera outbreaks and water supply are usually told today with the benefit of hindsight. In 1827 the problems were not so clear. Cholera was one problem - for which neither the cause nor the solution was known. Increasing pollution of water supply was another, different, problem - but one that caused disquiet and in which the new gas industry was seen to be a major player.
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
Those holders in Roan Street
Until forty or so years ago a set of gas holders stood very near to Greenwich Station. The site was an large and interesting one in that it had also held factories which were part of the gas industry. Was it another old gas works?
Wading through the Greenwich ratebooks for the last century looking for the Roan Street gas works was no fun. I knew that the site had been a market garden owned by a local dignitary called Hargrave, but it was not clear which road it was listed under. Roan Street? Ravensbourne Street? Cottage Place? Or something else. The only thing I really knew was that the Roan Street gas holders were shown on the 1869 Ordnance Survey map and were then owned by the Phoenix Gas Company.
So I went to look at the Phoenix Minute Books to see if they had anything to say about it. They were awful - not indexed, and written in an illegible copperplate hand (give me scrawl anyday). I was so fed up that I turned to the back page where the minutes were in a different handwriting (copperplate might look beautiful but you cannot read it! However there is always one fortnight a year written in untidy handwriting). There it was, right at the end of the book, 'the engineer at Greenwich reports a need for more holders, he is looking at suitable sites'.
So, in October 1864 Phoenix Gas Company bought a site in Greenwich from a Mr. Smith and ordered a gasholder to be built on it. The trouble is that they never recorded where the site was, just that it was 'in Greenwich'. So - was it Roan Street? There are two clues. One: they minuted a problem when they bought the site - someone wanted to build a road through it and they tried to persuade 'Mr.Rennie' to take over the unwanted river frontage because this road might not be built. If you look at a map of the Roan Street site, you will see that it used to go down to the Ravensbourne but in the 1860s Norman Road was built and cut the river frontage off. The other clue is that Phoenix's order for a gasholder was accompanied by another for a main 'to go down Roan Street' - although I suppose that it doesn't necessarily follow that it was going to connect to the new holder.
Anyway I hope we can be 90% (well, perhaps 85%) sure that the Greenwich Roan Street site was a holder station built by the Phoenix Company in 1864.
Wading through the Greenwich ratebooks for the last century looking for the Roan Street gas works was no fun. I knew that the site had been a market garden owned by a local dignitary called Hargrave, but it was not clear which road it was listed under. Roan Street? Ravensbourne Street? Cottage Place? Or something else. The only thing I really knew was that the Roan Street gas holders were shown on the 1869 Ordnance Survey map and were then owned by the Phoenix Gas Company.
So I went to look at the Phoenix Minute Books to see if they had anything to say about it. They were awful - not indexed, and written in an illegible copperplate hand (give me scrawl anyday). I was so fed up that I turned to the back page where the minutes were in a different handwriting (copperplate might look beautiful but you cannot read it! However there is always one fortnight a year written in untidy handwriting). There it was, right at the end of the book, 'the engineer at Greenwich reports a need for more holders, he is looking at suitable sites'.
So, in October 1864 Phoenix Gas Company bought a site in Greenwich from a Mr. Smith and ordered a gasholder to be built on it. The trouble is that they never recorded where the site was, just that it was 'in Greenwich'. So - was it Roan Street? There are two clues. One: they minuted a problem when they bought the site - someone wanted to build a road through it and they tried to persuade 'Mr.Rennie' to take over the unwanted river frontage because this road might not be built. If you look at a map of the Roan Street site, you will see that it used to go down to the Ravensbourne but in the 1860s Norman Road was built and cut the river frontage off. The other clue is that Phoenix's order for a gasholder was accompanied by another for a main 'to go down Roan Street' - although I suppose that it doesn't necessarily follow that it was going to connect to the new holder.
Anyway I hope we can be 90% (well, perhaps 85%) sure that the Greenwich Roan Street site was a holder station built by the Phoenix Company in 1864.
Greenwich and Deptford Gas Company
A scheme which never came to fruition. It is however one that can be seen to have a connection to the later and successful Greenwich and Deptford Company. No date, probably 1830s.
Those involved were:
Sir William Beatty: Governor of Greenwich Hospital. FRS. Beatty was Nelson’s doctor who ministered to him at his death at Trafalgar.
George Barrett: Lived Circus Street, Greenwich. Possibly the water colour painter. The son of a more famous, Irish, father.
Adam Gordon: Deptford shipbuilder.
Unidentified
Thomas Broadbent, J.W. Paris, Richard Edwards, Samuel Gordon, George Scott
Those involved were:
Sir William Beatty: Governor of Greenwich Hospital. FRS. Beatty was Nelson’s doctor who ministered to him at his death at Trafalgar.
George Barrett: Lived Circus Street, Greenwich. Possibly the water colour painter. The son of a more famous, Irish, father.
Adam Gordon: Deptford shipbuilder.
Unidentified
Thomas Broadbent, J.W. Paris, Richard Edwards, Samuel Gordon, George Scott
Greenwich Railway Gas Works
In the 1820s gas lighting in Greenwich was supplied by the Phoenix Gas Light and Coke Company from their gas works in Thames Street. In 1829 the gas from the South Metroplitan’s Old Kent Road works began supply some of the area to the west. Deptford lay between the two and, as more and towns had gas works of their own, Deptford people began to want their own gas lighting supply from their own works. In due course they were to get it – but from a very unlikely source.
In October 1834 Kentish Mercury announced a meeting 'for the purpose of considering the expediency of immediately forming a GAS LIGHT ESTABLISHMENT'. It was agreed that Deptford 'presents peculiar local facilities for the advantageous formation' of such a body and it was proposed to call it the 'Deptford and Greenwich GasLight Company'. In due course The Mercury carried a notice of the formation of the company. After such a good start it is shame to have to relate that nothing else seems to be heard about this body.
The Mercury reported later however that a Deptford Gas Works had received an Act of Parliament and, although this cannot be found in the official records, a celebratory dinner was held in a pub on Deptford Broadway. It was a 'sumptuous entertainment' for a 'numerous and highly respectable' company. They toasted everyone and everything from ‘The Old Oak Tree' to ' The Army and Navy' – but I do not think they ever built a gas works.
The only little bit of doubt in my mind is because there was a gas works – a very small one – near the Blackhorse Bridge on the Surrey Canal. As recently as 1986 there was a small gas installation there with a notice inviting you to ring the South Eastern Gas Board at New Cross for information. Perhaps that was the much toasted Deptford Gas Works. Although Brian Sturt has said ‘Blackhorse Bridge was a subsidiary holder station for The Surrey Consumers, Rotherhithe works was always short of space.
Meanwhile, as the 1830s progressed, excitement and innovation was in the air in Greenwich. A steam railway – the first suburban railway in the world - was to come to Greenwich. As plans advanced for the scheme so the Greenwich pamphleteers and satirists were, as usual, out in force. Not only was this railway to be the first in London but it also would incorporate a number of novel features. Along with the boulevard and the inclined plane at Deptford were plans for an integrated scheme of gas lighting.
The engineer to the London and Greenwich Railway Company was George Landmann. He had had a distinguished career in the Royal Engineers but had sold his commission in 1824. In the intervening ten years he had worked as Engineer to the Imperial Continental Gas Association – travelling round Europe to construct gas works in Continental towns. In turning his hand to railway construction it is only natural that he should also think about how gas could be used as part of his railway scheme.
A separate company – The Greenwich Railway Gas Company – was set up in 1836 with the same board membership as the railway itself. It was proposed to light the line with gas lamps –"lights at a distance of 21 yards on each side of the railway and also a number of lights for the stopping places each end of the road making in all about 700 lights" and to supply gas lighting to stations and to cottages built in the arches under the railways. In a revolutionary step it was also proposed to supply the cottages with gas cooking apparatus. It seems very likely that another part of the plan was to make coke on site for use by the locomotives. The gas works itself was to occupy the site upriver of the railway on the Deptford side of Deptford Creek – a site which is very easy to see from the train today and which now holds a small ecology centre.
As plans for the railway began to emerge the Phoenix Gas Company became concerned about the potential of the railway for damage to the gas mains and Mr. Tilson, acting as the company's solicitor, took steps to see that a clause was inserted in the railway’s Parliamentary Bill requiring compensation for any damage. When the railway opened in 1836 Phoenix supplied the coke for their locomotives. What Phoenix did not know was that Colonel Landmann had been discussion with the rival South Metropolitan Company, based in the Old Kent Road, on the question of a supply of gas for the stations and for the line. When Phoenix found this out in 1836 they were not amused and pointed out that they had not been allowed to tender for these lights. But, we should ask, why did the railway company not use its own gas for lighting, and its own coke for fuel?
The Greenwich Railway Gas Company does not seem to have been a success - and it is very unclear if it actually ever did supply gas to the railway line. There have been descriptions of the lights which people saw 1837 and 1838 but we now know that the gas for them was supplied by South Met. Gas Works not the railway’s own gas making plant.
By 1838 the railway company had given up trying to make gas and the new works was abandoned and the site was sold. The gasworks was taken over and finished by the Deptford, Rotherhithe and Bermondsey Gas Light and Coke Co. This had a board consisting of Charles Barlee, a Deptford coke merchant, Webster Flockton and Bermondsey tar distiller, John Wells MP and ex local shipbuilder, and John Twells deputy chairman of the Greenwich Railway. This means that it was controlled by people who had an interest in the railway rather than the local dignitaries who had made up the proposed Deptford and Greenwich Company a few years earlier. A fifth member of the board was John Barlow and it was he who built and operated the works.
In October 1834 Kentish Mercury announced a meeting 'for the purpose of considering the expediency of immediately forming a GAS LIGHT ESTABLISHMENT'. It was agreed that Deptford 'presents peculiar local facilities for the advantageous formation' of such a body and it was proposed to call it the 'Deptford and Greenwich GasLight Company'. In due course The Mercury carried a notice of the formation of the company. After such a good start it is shame to have to relate that nothing else seems to be heard about this body.
The Mercury reported later however that a Deptford Gas Works had received an Act of Parliament and, although this cannot be found in the official records, a celebratory dinner was held in a pub on Deptford Broadway. It was a 'sumptuous entertainment' for a 'numerous and highly respectable' company. They toasted everyone and everything from ‘The Old Oak Tree' to ' The Army and Navy' – but I do not think they ever built a gas works.
The only little bit of doubt in my mind is because there was a gas works – a very small one – near the Blackhorse Bridge on the Surrey Canal. As recently as 1986 there was a small gas installation there with a notice inviting you to ring the South Eastern Gas Board at New Cross for information. Perhaps that was the much toasted Deptford Gas Works. Although Brian Sturt has said ‘Blackhorse Bridge was a subsidiary holder station for The Surrey Consumers, Rotherhithe works was always short of space.
Meanwhile, as the 1830s progressed, excitement and innovation was in the air in Greenwich. A steam railway – the first suburban railway in the world - was to come to Greenwich. As plans advanced for the scheme so the Greenwich pamphleteers and satirists were, as usual, out in force. Not only was this railway to be the first in London but it also would incorporate a number of novel features. Along with the boulevard and the inclined plane at Deptford were plans for an integrated scheme of gas lighting.
The engineer to the London and Greenwich Railway Company was George Landmann. He had had a distinguished career in the Royal Engineers but had sold his commission in 1824. In the intervening ten years he had worked as Engineer to the Imperial Continental Gas Association – travelling round Europe to construct gas works in Continental towns. In turning his hand to railway construction it is only natural that he should also think about how gas could be used as part of his railway scheme.
A separate company – The Greenwich Railway Gas Company – was set up in 1836 with the same board membership as the railway itself. It was proposed to light the line with gas lamps –"lights at a distance of 21 yards on each side of the railway and also a number of lights for the stopping places each end of the road making in all about 700 lights" and to supply gas lighting to stations and to cottages built in the arches under the railways. In a revolutionary step it was also proposed to supply the cottages with gas cooking apparatus. It seems very likely that another part of the plan was to make coke on site for use by the locomotives. The gas works itself was to occupy the site upriver of the railway on the Deptford side of Deptford Creek – a site which is very easy to see from the train today and which now holds a small ecology centre.
As plans for the railway began to emerge the Phoenix Gas Company became concerned about the potential of the railway for damage to the gas mains and Mr. Tilson, acting as the company's solicitor, took steps to see that a clause was inserted in the railway’s Parliamentary Bill requiring compensation for any damage. When the railway opened in 1836 Phoenix supplied the coke for their locomotives. What Phoenix did not know was that Colonel Landmann had been discussion with the rival South Metropolitan Company, based in the Old Kent Road, on the question of a supply of gas for the stations and for the line. When Phoenix found this out in 1836 they were not amused and pointed out that they had not been allowed to tender for these lights. But, we should ask, why did the railway company not use its own gas for lighting, and its own coke for fuel?
The Greenwich Railway Gas Company does not seem to have been a success - and it is very unclear if it actually ever did supply gas to the railway line. There have been descriptions of the lights which people saw 1837 and 1838 but we now know that the gas for them was supplied by South Met. Gas Works not the railway’s own gas making plant.
By 1838 the railway company had given up trying to make gas and the new works was abandoned and the site was sold. The gasworks was taken over and finished by the Deptford, Rotherhithe and Bermondsey Gas Light and Coke Co. This had a board consisting of Charles Barlee, a Deptford coke merchant, Webster Flockton and Bermondsey tar distiller, John Wells MP and ex local shipbuilder, and John Twells deputy chairman of the Greenwich Railway. This means that it was controlled by people who had an interest in the railway rather than the local dignitaries who had made up the proposed Deptford and Greenwich Company a few years earlier. A fifth member of the board was John Barlow and it was he who built and operated the works.
The Deptford, Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Gas Light and Coke Co.
This represents Company was formed to take over the London & Greenwich Railway Gas Works Co.
The proprietors of the proposed company were:
Charles Barlee: Deptford coke merchant. Barlee was also a churchwarden at St.Nicholas Deptford and his name is inscribed on bells of 1842.
John Barlow: See Poplar Gas Company
Webster Flockton: Spa Road, Bermondsey, tar distiller. The Flockton’s were a coal owning family in 1871 a Webster Flockton is listed as Manager of the Llantwit Red Ash Coal Co. in South Wales
John Twells: First Deputy Chair of the Greenwich Railway. He set up the Greenwich Railway Gas Works. Related to Philip Twells (City of London MP). Birmingham engineering family. Worked with Richard Foster, who was the majority shareholder in South Met. Gas Co., to build churches.
John Wells: A shipbuilder with a number of partnerships, mainly in Deptford and with Wigram and Green at what became Thames Ironworks. Wells built Bickley Hall in 1780 and later Redleaf, which became Frank Hills' home. Liberal MP.
John Bateston, Unidentified.
They took over and ran the old Greenwich Railway Gas Works on Deptford Creek between the Greenwich Railway and Frank Hills chemical works. Today the Greenwich Railway carries heavy commuter traffic, the Chemical Works is a trading estate, and the creek remains. The site, which can be seen from the railway, is now the site of a small Ecology Centre and Project.
From 1838 on the Deptford Rotherhithe and Bermondsey Gas Company supplied gas to the people of the area in competition with the other local gas companies. Not too successfully however since in 1840 Phoenix secured the contract to light the parish of St. Paul's, Deptford – an area that the new company could well hope to have secured. The reaction of both the older gas companies to the newcomer was to lower their prices and eventually in 1841 a limited agreement on competition was made between them.
By the early 1850s there was yet another gas company in South London – the Surrey Consumers based in Rotherhithe which posed yet more competition. They made several attempts to buy up this now ailing Deptford works but by that time the Deptford Gas Works had a neighbour in the shape of Frank Clarke Hills. He had a chemical works on Deptford Creek, next door to the gas works and he seems to have used them for his own purposes.
It eventually transpired that the Deptford Works had been underwritten by Frank Hills to the tune of £10,000 loaned to them in order to extend the works. He had then used the works as a testing ground for his various gas purification schemes. The gas works claimed that there was a footpath through the site over which he had rights. This version of Frank Hills' rights was contested by some of the ex-directors of the Deptford, Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Gas Co.
The Deptford Works was eventually sold to the Surrey Consumers Co. In due course that was taken over by South Met. and the works was closed down in 1856, but probably continued to be used as a holder station only. It appears on the Ordnance Survey for the 1860s with three holders, the little dock and some buildings. By 1914 only the largest holder in the centre of the site remained but the site stood vacant behind a very substantial wall for many years.
The proprietors of the proposed company were:
Charles Barlee: Deptford coke merchant. Barlee was also a churchwarden at St.Nicholas Deptford and his name is inscribed on bells of 1842.
John Barlow: See Poplar Gas Company
Webster Flockton: Spa Road, Bermondsey, tar distiller. The Flockton’s were a coal owning family in 1871 a Webster Flockton is listed as Manager of the Llantwit Red Ash Coal Co. in South Wales
John Twells: First Deputy Chair of the Greenwich Railway. He set up the Greenwich Railway Gas Works. Related to Philip Twells (City of London MP). Birmingham engineering family. Worked with Richard Foster, who was the majority shareholder in South Met. Gas Co., to build churches.
John Wells: A shipbuilder with a number of partnerships, mainly in Deptford and with Wigram and Green at what became Thames Ironworks. Wells built Bickley Hall in 1780 and later Redleaf, which became Frank Hills' home. Liberal MP.
John Bateston, Unidentified.
They took over and ran the old Greenwich Railway Gas Works on Deptford Creek between the Greenwich Railway and Frank Hills chemical works. Today the Greenwich Railway carries heavy commuter traffic, the Chemical Works is a trading estate, and the creek remains. The site, which can be seen from the railway, is now the site of a small Ecology Centre and Project.
From 1838 on the Deptford Rotherhithe and Bermondsey Gas Company supplied gas to the people of the area in competition with the other local gas companies. Not too successfully however since in 1840 Phoenix secured the contract to light the parish of St. Paul's, Deptford – an area that the new company could well hope to have secured. The reaction of both the older gas companies to the newcomer was to lower their prices and eventually in 1841 a limited agreement on competition was made between them.
By the early 1850s there was yet another gas company in South London – the Surrey Consumers based in Rotherhithe which posed yet more competition. They made several attempts to buy up this now ailing Deptford works but by that time the Deptford Gas Works had a neighbour in the shape of Frank Clarke Hills. He had a chemical works on Deptford Creek, next door to the gas works and he seems to have used them for his own purposes.
It eventually transpired that the Deptford Works had been underwritten by Frank Hills to the tune of £10,000 loaned to them in order to extend the works. He had then used the works as a testing ground for his various gas purification schemes. The gas works claimed that there was a footpath through the site over which he had rights. This version of Frank Hills' rights was contested by some of the ex-directors of the Deptford, Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Gas Co.
The Deptford Works was eventually sold to the Surrey Consumers Co. In due course that was taken over by South Met. and the works was closed down in 1856, but probably continued to be used as a holder station only. It appears on the Ordnance Survey for the 1860s with three holders, the little dock and some buildings. By 1914 only the largest holder in the centre of the site remained but the site stood vacant behind a very substantial wall for many years.
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