61-458: Beckton Gasworks was a major London gasworks built to manufacture coal gas and other products including coke from coal. It has been variously described as 'the largest such plant in the world' and 'the largest gas works in Europe'. It operated from 1870 to 1976, with an associated by-products works that operated from 1879 to 1970. The works were located on East Ham Level, on the north bank of
122-525: A Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation , Grade II. It is said to be the highest artificial hill in London. In 2003, a proposed £35m replacement for the site - the SnowWorld indoor centre - ran into financial problems. The site was acquired for development as a hotel in 2013. The A13 /A117 road junction is also named Beckton Alps. During 2013 the sheets of corrugated iron situated on top of
183-479: A Square World , were shot here. The mounds of chemical waste were used to portray mountaineering scenes. In 1975 the film Brannigan starring John Wayne used the location. The opening sequence of the 1981 James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only was filmed here. The scenes involved Roger Moore as James Bond attempting to regain control of a helicopter operated by remote control by his nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld . The gasworks buildings were also used in
244-464: A carbonizing plant was built, giving Brisbane the "most modern gas producing plant in Australia", consuming 100 tonnes of coal every eight hours. During its golden years in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the site also played a vital role in providing employment to aboriginal Australians and many migrant workers arriving there from Europe after the second World War. The fine tradition of
305-498: A college, a care home, council offices and a parade of shops also support the local economy, which has parks to north and south-east. It was originally part of the ancient parish and County Borough of West Ham , in the hundred of Becontree , a part of the historic county of Essex . Since 1965 , Custom House has been part of the London Borough of Newham, a local government district of Greater London. It forms part of
366-478: A large frame that guided it as it rose and fell depending on the amount of gas it contained. The by-products of gas-making, such as coke , coal tar , ammonia and sulfur had many uses. For details, see coal gas . Coal gas is no longer made in the UK but many gasworks sites are still used for storage and metering of natural gas and some of the old gasometers are still in use. Fakenham gasworks dating from 1846
427-817: A largely rural parish until the early 19th century. Trade expanded in the British Empire and the royal docks were built, connecting to the River Thames in this district. Custom House took its name from the Custom House of the Royal Victoria Dock, opened in 1855. The demand for trade brought rapid population expansion, chiefly the families of dockworkers, warehousemen, carters (distributors), packaging and semi-skilled manufacturing hands, building and utilities workmen and workers in London's street and general distribution markets. About 1740
488-579: A number of scenes representing a dystopian 1984 London in the 1984 film version of the George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four . Part of the 1985 Max Headroom TV Movie 20 Minutes into the Future was shot at Beckton Gasworks. Derek Jarman 's 1986 promotional video for The Smiths 'The Queen is Dead' single was partly shot at Beckton Gasworks. In 1986, the film Biggles: Adventures in Time used
549-606: A rich collection of industrial finds, related to water and gas works history. Hasanpaşa Gasworks a 1892-built gasworks in Istanbul , Turkey, which was redeveloped into a museum in 2021. Custom House, Newham Custom House is an area in the London Borough of Newham , in East London , England. The area is named after the custom house of Royal Victoria Dock . Today the dock is used for recreation but, in
610-463: A series of vertical tanks containing petroleum oil through which the gas was bubbled. The purpose of a benzole plant was to extract benzole from the gas. The benzole dissolved into the petroleum oil was run through a steam separating plant to be sold separately. The gas holder or gasometer was a tank used for storage of the gas and to maintain even pressure in distribution pipes. The gas holder usually consisted of an upturned steel bell contained within
671-548: A total gas reforming capacity of 143 million cubic feet gas per day (4.05 million m/day). The reforming plants operated until 1976; Beckton was the location of the last town gas to natural gas domestic conversions in the North Thames Gas Board supply area on 29 August 1976. At its peak Beckton had employed 4,500 people, but by the late 1970s only 100 employees remained. After closure the residual site passed to British Gas and Transco . The works lay within
SECTION 10
#1732782422692732-723: A true reflection of urban renewal embracing its industrial past. Located in South Dunedin , New Zealand , the Dunedin Gasworks Museum consists of a conserved engine house featuring a working boiler house, fitting shop and collection of five stationary steam engines. There are also displays of domestic and industrial gas appliances. Located in Athens, Greece Technopolis (Gazi) is a gasworks converted to an exhibition space. The Gas Museum in Leicester, UK
793-536: Is marked in early 20th century maps as the eastern half of Canning Town. The first Custom House in London was built in 1275 next to Old Billingsgate Market in the City of London several miles to the west. Royal Victoria Dock which was the economic hub of the settlement is today in recreational use but it dominated the industry and commerce of the area from its 1855 opening until the 1940s and closed in 1980 due to containerisation of freight. The Custom House Hotel (on
854-761: Is operated by The National Gas Museum Trust . Gas Works Park is a public park in Seattle, Washington . The Warsaw Gasworks Museum is a museum in Warsaw, Poland . The Museo dell'Acqua e del Gas is a museum in Genoa, Italy. It is located in the industrial area of the IREN Archived 14 December 2021 at the Wayback Machine company, an Italian multi-utility, where coal gas has been produced till 1972. The small Museum, managed by Fondazione AMGA , hosts
915-639: Is the Church of England place of worship on Baxter Road since 1891. On Prince Regent Lane next to the public library is the Custom House Baptist Church. At different times in recent years, Royal Docks Academy has been used as a place of worship by various evangelical churches. Bus services are the 241 , 325 and 678 (school journeys only) running along Freemasons Road, and the 147 , 300 and 473 using Prince Regent Lane. Buses route 304 Buses route 474 The district's roads feed into
976-605: Is the only complete, non-operational gasworks remaining in England. Other examples exist at Biggar in Scotland and Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland . Photos of Fakenham Gas Works Gasworks were noted for their foul smell and generally located in the poorest metropolitan areas. Cultural remnants of gasworks include many streets named Gas Street or Gas Avenue and groups or gangs known as Gas House Gang , such as
1037-463: The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. The 1946 film Gas House Kids features children from New York's Gas House District taking on a gang, and spawned two sequels. Ewan McColl 's 1968 song " Dirty Old Town " (about his home town of Salford ) famously begins "Found my love by the gaswork croft …" (in cover versions often "I met my love by the gasworks wall…") Fans of Bristol Rovers F.C. in south west England are known as ‘Gas-Heads’ due to
1098-566: The 241 , 325 and 678 (school journeys only). The Custom House Surgery is also located on this road. The Royal Docks Community School and the Shipman Youth Centre are both on Prince Regent Lane, in addition to local stores which serve the residents. Bus routes passing through Prince Regent Lane are the 147 , 300 and 473 . Custom House has one secondary school with academy status, and a number of primary schools: Secondary Schools Primary Schools Custom House has one of
1159-526: The King George's Fields in memorial to King George V . The Canning Town recreational ground is located on Freemasons Road. Custom House was home to a football league club, Thames A.F.C , from 1930 to 1932, when the club was dissolved. Although there are no longer any football teams playing within Custom House, various teams in recent years with names containing 'Custom House' have played within close proximity. Custom House United (Est 2018) played at
1220-692: The London Docklands area and parts were redeveloped by the London Docklands Development Corporation . The works covered a 550-acre (220-hectare) site to the south of the Northern Outfall Sewer , between Woolwich Manor Way and the Thames. The company had considered several sites for the works. The site to the west of Barking Creek was selected as it was possible to build deep water piers in
1281-534: The London E16 postcode district. Custom House has often been regarded as the eastern part of Canning Town , also a part of West Ham; however this link has tended to be downplayed since the Victorian period due to Canning Town’s poor, industrial character. Historically, the area was in the extreme west of Essex and, along with Canning Town and Silvertown , formed the south of the parish of West Ham ,
SECTION 20
#17327824226921342-560: The Macdonaldtown Carriage Sheds , Newcastle , Bathurst , Junee and Werris Creek . These plants followed on from the works of a private supplier which the railway took over in 1884. Gas was also transported in special travelling gas reservoir wagons from the gasworks to stationary reservoirs located at a number of country stations where carriage reservoirs were replenished. With the spreading conversion to electric power for lighting buildings and carriages during
1403-616: The Mickey Mouse March from the US children's TV show. In the film a period of several days takes place in the protagonists' lives as they travel through Huế city; in reality the action took place within just 1 square mile (2.5 square kilometres). According to Kubrick collaborator Leon Vitali , who worked on Full Metal Jacket , the gasworks were built by an architectural firm that also constructed much of Huế. Within weeks, British pop/rock trio The Outfield filmed multiple sequences for
1464-513: The Queensland Defence Force placed an official request for town gas connection, evidence of the vital role the gasworks played in the economic development of colonial Brisbane. In fact, the gasworks were considered to be of such importance, that during World War II, genuine fears of attack from Japanese air raids motivated the installation of anti aircraft guns which vigilantly watched over the plant and its employees throughout
1525-539: The Thames at Gallions Reach, to the west of Barking Creek . The plant was opened in 1870 by the Gas Light and Coke Company (GLCC). The name Beckton was given to the plant and the surrounding area of east London in honour of the company's governor Simon Adams Beck (1803-1883). It came eventually to manufacture gas for most of London north of the Thames, with numerous smaller works being closed. Its counterpart south of
1586-795: The Will Thorne Pavilion on Stansfeld Road in Beckton . Custom House Community FC (Est 2013) played at the Terence McMillan Stadium in neighbouring Plaistow , just over the A13 from Custom House. Custom House FC (founded in 2011) play at their home ground of Lyle Park in Silvertown . Custom House was home to the West Ham Hammers speedway team at the 120,000 capacity West Ham Stadium . Many roads built on
1647-558: The developed world by the use of natural gas , though they are still used for storage space. Coal gas was introduced to Great Britain in the 1790s as an illuminating gas by the Scottish inventor William Murdoch . Early gasworks were usually located beside a river or canal so that coal could be brought in by barge . Transport was later shifted to railways and many gasworks had internal railway systems with their own locomotives. Early gasworks were built for factories in
1708-440: The 'set' with latticework and appropriate advertising hoardings to make it believable. At one point the soldiers enter a building to flush out a sniper. This building was one of several located between the central buildings of the old gasworks and about 200 yards from the river Thames. The final scene sees the soldiers marching off into the (London) sunset against the silhouettes of the burning gasworks' chimneys and buildings, singing
1769-511: The 1920s and 1930s, the railway gasworks were progressively decommissioned. The Gasworks Newstead site in Brisbane Australia has been a stalwart of the river’s edge since its development in 1863. By 1890, the works were supplying gas to Brisbane streets from Toowong to Hamilton and over the next 100 years, it would grow to supply Brisbane city with the latest in gas technology until it was decommissioned in 1996. In March 1866,
1830-563: The Brisbane Gasworks economic and employment-based successes will not be lost or forgotten with the Teneriffe Gasworks Village Development paying homage to the sites history and integrity in its pending urban development. The gasholder structure at this site is set to become a hub of a new property development on the site – keeping the structural integrity of the pig iron structure. It will be
1891-532: The CWG plant had risen to 40 million cubic feet per day (1.133 million m/d) by 1934. However, the majority of the gas was still produced by coal carbonisation. After the Second World War a major reconstruction project was undertaken by the civil engineer T. P. O'Sullivan of Brian Colquhoun and Partners. Following nationalisation in 1949 the plant was owned by the North Thames Gas Board . In 1949 Beckton
Beckton Gas Works - Misplaced Pages Continue
1952-595: The Industrial Revolution from about 1805 as a light source and for industrial processes requiring gas, and for lighting in country houses from about 1845. Country house gas works are extant at Culzean Castle in Scotland and Owlpen in Gloucestershire . A gasworks was divided into several sections for the production, purification and storage of gas. This contained the retorts in which coal
2013-577: The Thames, enabling direct unloading from steam colliers bringing coal from mines in the North-East of England. There were two piers, for importing coal and exporting by-products. In the 1930s an annual average of a million tons of coal mainly from Durham was unloaded at the main pier, with a further 750,000 tons transhipped to barges for other works. The GLCC had a fleet of seventeen coastal colliers ranging from 1,200 to 2,841 gross register tons , and also chartered larger ships as needed. At this time
2074-462: The UK, possibly in the world. Besides millions of gallons of road tar, products included phenol , the cresols and xylenols , naphthalene , pyridine bases, creosote , benzene , toluene , xylene , solvent naphtha , ammonium sulphate and ammonia solution, sulphuric acid , picolines , quinoline , quinaldine , acenaphthene , anthracene and dicyclopentadiene . Since the Products works
2135-418: The boundaries of the ancient parish being in limited height of homes then affordable to most people. Unlike in the various wealthy streets of other London districts almost the whole population of this part of what was Canning Town consisted of low-paid workers who lived in cheap, unadorned brick and mortar low rise terraces . There was a chronic shortage of open land which only became available once again when
2196-422: The condenser pipes were contained in a water tank similar to a boiler but operated in the same manner as the air-cooled variant. The tar produced was then held in a tar well/tank which was also used to store liquor . An impeller or pump was used to increase the gas pressure before scrubbing. Exhausters were optional components and could be placed anywhere along the purifying process but were most often placed after
2257-474: The condensers and immediately before the gas entered the gas holders. A sealed tank containing water through which the gas was bubbled. This removed ammonia and ammonium compounds. The water often contained dissolved lime to aid the removal of ammonia. The water left behind was known as ammonical liquor . Other versions used consisted of a tower, packed with coke, down which water was trickled. Also known as an Iron Sponge, this removed hydrogen sulfide from
2318-584: The corner of Freemasons Road), was opened in 2001 to service visitors to the ExCeL centre in the district. With a large park , Newham City Farm, a King George V Park , vegetable allotments and arguably the north side of Royal Albert Dock , approximately half of Custom House's land use is for housing. The two main roads which serve Custom House are Freemasons Road near the Custom House DLR station and Prince Regent Lane. Buses serving Freemasons Road are
2379-565: The cost of sound mid-rise and high-rise buildings became lower. High rise was first adopted in the country as social housing , attaching a stigma to tower blocks , many of which have since been demolished, including the few in this district of what was West Ham or Canning Town. A slight population decline to 1931 paled into insignificance by the devastation wrought on this area in World War II , when bombing destroyed in many cases entire streets and forced large-scale evacuation. The area
2440-662: The extensive industrial railway route has since been used for the Docklands Light Railway between Beckton DLR station and the Royal Docks Road. The site also houses the Beckton DLR depot . 51°30′57″N 0°04′19″E / 51.515876°N 0.071965°E / 51.515876; 0.071965 Gasworks A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in
2501-534: The former dry sky slope were painted in the colour of the Lithuanian national flag (the site is adjacent to London's largest Lithuanian supermarket) but later covered up with the St George Cross in retaliation. The Gasworks, Products Works and Alps were used as a location for TV and cinema filming on a number of occasions. In the 1960s comedy films and TV programmes, such as Michael Bentine ’s It's
Beckton Gas Works - Misplaced Pages Continue
2562-408: The gas by passing it over wooden trays containing moist ferric oxide . The gas then passed on to the gasholder and the iron sulfide was sold to extract the sulfur. Waste from this process often gave rise to blue billy , a ferrocyanide contaminant in the land which causes problems when trying to redevelop an old gasworks site. Often only used at large gasworks sites, a benzole plant consisted of
2623-489: The gas works was the raw material for local manufacturers of sulphuric acid needed by other nearby companies producing products such as fertilizers. Subsequently, the GLCC decided that it would carry out the processing of by-products itself, rather than sell them to independent chemical companies. A purpose-built chemical works, Beckton Products Works, was constructed in 1879. It was the largest tar and ammonia by-products works in
2684-485: The gas. Processes began to be developed to recover these, and a major branch of the British chemical industry – the coal tar and ammonia by-products industry – came into existence. By 1876 a nearby company, Burt, Boulton and Haywood of Silvertown , was distilling each year 12 million imperial gallons (55,000 cubic metres) of coal tar to manufacture ingredients for disinfectants, insecticides and dyes. Sulphur from
2745-487: The gasworks as a location for a weapon testing ground. Neil Dickson, who played Biggles in Biggles: Adventures in Time, played a similar character in the 1987 film It Couldn't Happen Here , a surreal, musical journey through the songs of the pop duo Pet Shop Boys . In the film, Dickson drives Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe to a apocalyptic wasteland, the scenes of which were filmed at Beckton, very close to
2806-424: The number of householders was estimated at 570. In the first national census of 1801 the population of West Ham was 6,485. It rose steadily to 12,738 in 1841 and then began a growth, which was especially rapid between 1871 and 1901, when over 204,000 were added. By 1911, with 289,030 inhabitants, West Ham was seventh in size among English county boroughs , a status newly acquired. The new population were crowded within
2867-607: The past, it dominated the industry and commerce of the area from 1855 until the 1940s before closing in 1980. The main economic building of the area is the ExCeL London Exhibition Centre and the district is connected to the City of London by the Docklands Light Railway and the Elizabeth line . Offices, factories and storage premises close to the DLR route provide most of the area's employment land. Schools,
2928-434: The plant had a coal storage capacity of 250,000 tons. The plant had an extensive internal railway system of between 42 and 70 miles (68 and 113 kilometres) and featured some unusual elevated sidings that also ran out on a number of piers into the Thames. The Beckton Railway provided a link to the national network at Custom House , used for passenger traffic to the works and for transport of by-products such as coal tar. This
2989-470: The proximity of gasometers near to their original ground at Eastville in Bristol. Bristol Rovers F.C. is also known as ‘The Gas’. Gas was used for many years to illuminate the interior of railway carriages. The New South Wales Government Railways manufactured its own oil-gas for this purpose, together with reticulated coal-gas to railway stations and associated infrastructure. Such works were established at
3050-715: The river was the South Metropolitan Gas Co's East Greenwich Gas Works on the Greenwich Peninsula . Town gas was produced using coal carbonisation and was conveyed to central London through a 48-inch (1.22 m) diameter gas main to the City of London with an extension to Westminster. The 48-inch main was subsequently duplicated. To augment gas supplies the GLCC built a carburetted water gas (CWG) plant at Beckton in 1890 capable of producing 10 million cubic feet per day (283,166 m/d). The capacity of
3111-547: The same area used in Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 film Full Metal Jacket. In the final hour or so of Full Metal Jacket , Stanley Kubrick 's 1987 movie portraying the Vietnam War , Matthew Modine (Private Joker), Adam Baldwin (Animal Mother) and their platoon go into Huế , a Vietnamese city, to clear it of Viet Cong and snipers. Kubrick had the whole gasworks selectively demolished and the art department then dressed
SECTION 50
#17327824226923172-566: The stadium site following its demolition are named after the stars of the team - including Aub Lawson , Jack Young and promoter Johnnie Hoskins . In Custom House there are three purpose built Christian churches representing the Anglican , Baptist and Catholic denominations. On Berwick Road is the church of St Anne, which today is part a two church Catholic parish known as the Parish of Our Lady of Walsingham (POLOW). The Ascension Church
3233-470: The video to the band's 1987 hit "Since You've Been Gone", from their album Bangin' , at Beckton Gasworks. The video for Loop 's 1990 single 'Arc-lite' was filmed on the set of Full Metal Jacket . The gasworks was used as the main background scene for the video to the 1997 Oasis single ' D'You Know What I Mean? ', as it shows the band members playing on a concrete slab within the gasworks. The videoclip for Marcella Detroit 's 1994 single ' I Believe '
3294-539: The war. The site itself has been synonymous with economic growth and benefit to Brisbane and Queensland with the success of the gasworks facilitating further development of the Newstead/Teneriffe area to include the James Hardie fibro-cement manufacturing plant, Shell Oil plant, Brisbane Water and Sewerage Depot and even the “Brisbane Gas Company Cookery School” which operated in the 1940s. In 1954,
3355-417: Was dependent on by-products of gas manufacture it could not long survive the introduction of natural gas. The last train carrying chemical products, a load of pitch , left the works on 1 June 1970. The toxic spoil heaps from the works are known ironically as Beckton Alps. Originally covering an extensive area to the west of the works, they have been landscaped and much reduced in size. In 1988 an Armada beacon
3416-412: Was heated to generate the gas. The crude gas was siphoned off and passed on to the condenser . The waste product left in the retort was coke . In many cases the coke was then burned to heat the retorts or sold as smokeless fuel. This consisted of a bank of air-cooled gas pipes over a water-filled sump. Its purpose was to remove tar from the gas by condensing it out as the gas was cooled. Occasionally
3477-609: Was leased and operated by the Great Eastern Railway from 1874. There were no intermediate stations between Custom House station and Beckton railway station , which was at the entrance to the works. The line closed to passengers following bomb damage in 1940, the freight line finally closing in February 1971. Following the invention of coal gas early in the 19th century, it was discovered that numerous organic and inorganic chemicals could be obtained when purifying
3538-579: Was partially shot at Beckton Alps while it was still a dry-ski slope. Virtually no trace of the old gasworks now exists. Bisected by many roads, including the A1020 Royal Docks Road, a small area of the waste tip and some gas holders remain, separated by 1 mile (2 kilometres) or so of redevelopment. Parts of the site are occupied by an industrial estate , the Beckton Retail Park and Gallions Reach Shopping Park . Part of
3599-531: Was placed at its summit, one of a national network of beacons commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Spanish Armada. The beacon, a large metal structure, was subsequently stolen. From 1989 to 2001 a dry ski slope, opened by Diana, Princess of Wales , was operated on the small remaining section ( grid reference TQ431820 ), though the nickname pre-dates this. The site is the highest point in Newham, and
3660-550: Was shot in this location. Also, the 1995 TV series Bugs episode 'Out Of The Hive' shows the entire works in a scene where a car drives off an unfinished bridge in flames. Patrick Keiller 's 1997 film Robinson in Space visits Beckton, including 'East Ham Churchyard' ("the largest in England" noted the narrator Paul Scofield ) opposite Beckton Alps. Asylum , a 2000 film of Iain Sinclair and Chris Petit for Channel 4 ,
3721-458: Was the largest gas works in the world, capable of producing a total of 119.12 million cubic feet of gas per day (3.37 million m/day). Over the next 20 years a series of upgrades to the works were undertaken: The coal carbonisation plant at Beckton became uncompetitive with North Sea gas and was closed in 1969, which was also when the last trainload left the associated chemical works. Beckton still produced town gas using its reforming plants – with
SECTION 60
#1732782422692#691308