The East Greenwich gas holder is being
demolished. It was the largest holder in
the world when it was built with revolutionary engineering. It remains a
dramatic feature in the landscape and an icon for the area. But despite great
public support to keep it or adapt it to another use - it’s going. Like all the
other holders where local people asked for demolition to be halted and another solution found,
the procedure is remorseless and
unforgiving. They are all going
The East Greenwich holder is the second
in the series which Malcolm Tucker has described as the ‘Livesey holders’. It was built for the South Metropolitan Gas
Company as part of their new modern gasworks on the Greenwich Penninsula in the
1880s. South Metropolitan had originally been based in the Old Kent Road as a
relatively small company dating from the late 1820s. In
1839 Thomas Livesey had been appointed as manager and he was determined to make
the then insignificant South Metropolitan
Company ‘take the lead’ in the London gas industry. He died in 1871 and was replaced by his
eldest son. George Livesey, clever and unconventional, was to become the
dominant figure in the late 19th century gas industry with an involvement in
almost every possible issue, often against the wishes of his Board. This
included changing the basis of profit and price management in the industry as
well as labour relations and much technology.
He was also a national figure in the
temperance movement.
George Livesey had been responsible for
a series of gas holders at the Old Kent Road from 1865, each one embodying new
ideas. There
was considerable interest in the trade press and among other engineers on the
development of gas holder design in this period. In 1881 gasholder No13 was put into use. This had been designed by Livesey on what
Malcolm Tucker has described as the ‘revolutionary cylindrical shell
principle’. It was of an unprecedented
5.5m cu ft. in capacity with three lifts making it 160 foot high. It is also
very plain with no applied decoration and has been
described by Malcolm, as a ‘new benchmark for gas holder design’. The lack of decoration was, in part, the result of recommendations made to Livesey
by the American, George Warren Dresser who advised him that structures should
represent what they were and not carry historic design
references. That foreshadows ideas for industrial buildings in the
modern movement and the holder. Its construction costs were
extraordinarily low at £8.10s per 1000 cwt. It was also built in the
knowledge that gas consumption was increasing by about 10% a year thus
providing the necessary storage. This holder is now listed and will be
preserved in situ in the Old Kent Road.
From the 1870s governments were keen to
see small inner-city gas works replaced by a large efficient out of town
works. In this period Livesey had
negotiated takeovers of most other South London gas companies and it was then
decided to build a large modern works on what is now known as Greenwich
Peninsula, then Greenwich Marsh. The Marsh had been rapidly industrialising
since around 1800, mainly on Riverside sites concentrated on the West
Bank. South Met acquired roughly the
northernmost third of the peninsula an area then known as Blackwall Point. It
was originally planned to have five holders in the south east corner of the
site but eventually construction began on
the pattern of No.13 Old Kent Road with the
majority of work on it to be done by George’s younger brother, Frank. Early on problems were encountered. Water from the Marsh flooded into excavations for the tank ‘causing widespread
mischief all around’. As a result the
holder was built slightly raised the
rim of the tank being 4 m above ground level, surrounded by an earth mound. It was described as an ‘iron Mountain against
the sky’ and was the largest gas holder in the world
A Second larger
holder was built adjacent to it with a more revolutionary structure which caused great
excitement in the professional press of the day. It suffered a major accident
in the Silvertown explosion in 1917 and was eventually demolished in the 1980s to little publicity or interest of anyone except
myself. Together the two holders have
been described as constituting the largest concentration of gas storage ever.
The original number one holder remained
on site increasingly isolated as industry around it closed.
The gasworks itself ceased to make gas for public supply in 1976. The
holder is said to have been damaged both in the
1917 explosion and again in the Second World War but most particularly in 1979
when an IRA bomb was exploded alongside. Three bays were
damaged on its western side but were repaired
and the holder remained in use and was decommissioned
between 2012 and 2014.
There had been at least one attempt to
get the holder listed in the 1990s and the processes
surrounding this and later attempts have been
explored through Freedom of Information requests
by members of the campaign group. In
2000 Malcolm Tucker was commissioned by what was then English Heritage to do a
study of gas holders in London. East Greenwich was not included in his sample
survey but he included a short chapter on it. This study has in many ways
provides a benchmark for holders in the London area
News began to spread of holders
worldwide which, rather than being demolished, were
given other uses, some extremely imaginative. A conference was held in London
in 2014 where gas holders were discussed and it became clear that demolitions
would follow relatively quickly. OFGEM had provided money and an instruction
that all gas holders, except those listed by English
Heritage, were to come down in the interests of
consumer price control. Work was already underway setting up processes
for demolition by site owners. In Greenwich a small group was formed to try and
do what we could do to either get listing for the holder or in some way ensure
that it could be used in one of the many ways undertaken elsewhere. Greenwich council appeared neutral on the
subject but issued a planning brief for the area
surrounding the site of the holder. this noted that” heritage assets and
environment (should be) are conserved and enhanced”
We then learnt that the owners had
applied for a Certificate of Immunity against listing.
This was granted and, with the demolition of gas
holders being permitted development under planning legislation, meant
that the local Council could not refuse planning consent to the demolition of the holder and could only comment
on the management of such demolition. The council was also required to remove the hazardous substances order. The first
application for management of demolition was submitted close to Christmas 2017 and refused; the
second application was submitted shortly before the 2018
council elections in a period
when councillors are not allowed to take decisions and it was then agreed on
officers’ action. We also learnt that Transport
for London’s Silvertown Tunnel project would pass close by and that Southern
Gas Networks were under some pressure because of this.
The campaign group set up a petition online which quickly achieved 1545
signatures. An associated paper petition was taken door-to-door
where most residents were eager to sign. Clearly, also, the urban explorers
have been to the top of the holder and their website contains several dramatic pictures.
The holder received a great deal of
attention with articles in local papers and blogs. We have had a series of meetings with the owners, Southern Gas Networks, along with Greenwich Planners and some councillors. These
were all very friendly and as a result we have had two
site visits. A detailed survey has been carried
out by AOC Archaeology Group and this will be followed up as demolition
proceeds. SGN have agreed to commission
an artwork associated with the holder and it is also possible that a booklet
will accompany it.
We are also aware of the context of
other local holders, apart from those listed. There have been campaigns north
of the river all of which appear to have been unsuccessful.
The only exception may be the Bethnal Green holder which is apparently
now in other ownership. In south London our
neighbours at Bell Green got their two holders locally
listed by Lewisham Council but that did not prevent demolition which is now on-going.
The holder in Bromley by the Tesco store has gone and we understand St Mary‘s Cray
will follow soon.
I think future generations will be appalled that these dramatic local structures will all be
gone with little attempt at adaptive reuse.
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