East Greenwich Gas Works
East Greenwich Gas Works was to become the
largest in the world, with the biggest gas holders and much more. It was first planned, however, by Phoenix in
their last year of existance. . Phoenix had been unable to meet the demand
for gas in the fast growing areas of Lewisham, Catford and Charlton and they
therefore began to look for land onto which they could expand. In April 1879 they
inspected land at the Greenwich marshes and later negotiations were opened. These
did not proceed immediately because of the Angerstein railway line. By the time
amalgamation arrangements had been made and the South Metropolitan directors
visited it was decided to submit a Bill into parliament and this was passed in
1881. They initially purchased 135 acres
of land[1] and clearly this was some distance from Mr.Angersteins’s
railway. [2]
Greenwich Marsh – Greenwich Peninsula was
developing fast in this period. The river frontage was described as 'scattered
at intervals with factories devoted to evil smelling trades'? Many of those
factories were, in their own fields, famous. One, which had evolved all the way
from its origins in Samuel Enderby's 1830s rope walk, had handled the Atlantic
cable. There had been some important innovators among the east Greenwich
wharves - one, the engineer, Joshua Beale, had made steam engines and exhausters
which South Met. had bought. There had been others like Kuper who developed
wire ropes. Some famous names had had sites at East Greenwich, Henry Bessemer
and Maudslay Son & Field among them. Works were strung out around the
Peninsula from Coles Child on the west bank to the flamboyant millionaire,
Deptford chemist and purifier patentee, Frank Hills. Interspersed between these were many river
based trades who undertook the regular Thamesside traffic of cement, tar and
barge building. The truth about Greenwich marsh was that it was a busy
industrial area and its lack of access didn't matter to works that relied on
barge transport.
Before the Bill was agreed there was a
House of Lords enquiry into the proposed works and particularly in respect of complaints
from existing industry. One such were the owners of the very large dry dock
located at the tip of Blackwall Point. They claimed that the smell would damage
the high class paint work on the boats which were in their dock for
repair. There were also requirements on
the gas company before they were allowed to build the works. One was that they build the river wall on the
eastern bank, and on the west bank provide Ordinance Draw Dock in return for an
older public draw dock which would be demolished. A public footpath that had
previously gone right round the river bank was closed.
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Construction was carried out under the
close supervision of George Livesey and much of it done by direct labour under
a committee of the new post-amalgamation board,
These changes did not please ‘waterside
people' who caused 'difficulty' by insisting on their old rights of way. Docwra,
one of the contractors, dealt with this by placing 'a gang of men' to 'divert
this traffic'. Building work began very slowly. The contractors found access to
the site difficult, describing it as 'a cul de sac - and approaches thereto
were not inviting'. They set up offices
in Blakely buildings, a small group of houses built for the workers of the
short lived gun manufactory at Ordnance Wharf. That site was ordered to be
purchased by the gas company, although it was partly occupied by the guano
company. The rest was derelict and 'useless
great guns' lay all about,[3]
reminders of the failure of their manufacturer.[4]
The centre of the peninsula, and most of
the site on which the gas works was to be built was 'market gardens of poor
quality'. The builders were constantly reminded of this by the 'sprouting of
rhubarb' throughout the site. There were a few remaining cows living in a shed
which 'age had rendered rotten and insecure'.
Perhaps the barn was the one that had been built on the field to the
south of Riverway in 1815. This was of timber on a brick foundation with a
thatched roof. Seventy years later it was, no doubt, showing its' age. One
future gas works' employee was to remember that as a boy he had illicitly
milked a cow into his cap on one hot summer afternoon. The resulting mess of
'milk, cream and hairs' led to a 'conversation' between his father and the cowkeeper.
Once the gas company contractors were on site any remaining cattle were
impounded by two police kept for the purpose.
Others who thought they might have rights
on the there were gypsies for whom it was a 'happy dumping ground'. With them the contractors were in a 'constant
state of warfare'. During one such running battle, Joseph Tysoe, the future
works manager, only escaped serious injury when his assistant grabbed a heavy
iron bar aimed at his head.
As work progressed, Docwra brought on site
'extraordinarily powerful pumping apparatus' and took borings to discover the
state of the ground. Barge after barge
came loaded with clinker and heavy rubbish to use as infill, but it took 'a
vast amount of effort to make a sensible impression on this wilderness'.
Slowly the works took shape. 'Looming vast
against the sky is the skeleton of the great holder'. This is the holder still
to be seen today alongside the Blackwall tunnel approach road. It was thought
it would 'darken the sky like a mountain of iron'. The jetty too was taking
shape, sinking as it was built. It was reported that it was 'allowed to go as
far as they would' until it became 'as firm as a rock'. [5] It was apparently built by Appleby whose
works was then in Emerson Street in Southwark but who would move to the
Greenwich site, now called Victoria Deep Water Wharf in 1886.
The first gas was made in July 1887 and a
main built from East Greenwich to the Old Kent Road. Soon after East Greenwich
No.1. holder was ready – the largest holder in the world.
East Greenwich gas works would soon become
the premier works in Britain – or indeed as South Met. Staff and George Livesey
saw it, the World.
[2] The Angerstein railway
runs along the south eastern boundary of the Peninsula, a long way from, the
gasworks site and it is difficult to understand how it was a problem in the
first place. It may be however that the
real objection was to a Greenwich Dock Scheme which would have joined a new
dock to the railway – the last of several such schemes.
[4] The guns were
collected up and made into a feature at the entrance to the ordnance tar works.
They eventually went for scrap in the 1970s. Inevitably since the Blakely guns
have become very valuable collector’s pieces.
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