Country House Gasworks

by Roger Baker

By the 1860s, most of the towns in what is now Cumbria had their own gasworks producing coal gas for lighting the streets, public buildings, shops, and the town houses of those well enough off to afford it. Click here to find out more).

But the companies that ran these gasworks were always reluctant to extend their areas of supply unless they could see a profit in it – the cost and the technical difficulty of laying mains for any distance made it not worth their while.

This meant that anyone outside town who wanted the benefit of gas lighting had no choice but to make their own. These independent producers included mills such as the woollen mill at Mealbank near Kendal, hotels such as the Ferry House on Windermere, even the county lunatic asylum (as it was known) outside Carlisle.

Also included were a number of country houses, from Netherby Hall near Longtown in the north of the county to Boarbank Hall near Grange-over-Sands in the south. Most were smaller versions of the town gasworks, producing gas from coal. Easier and cheaper methods were introduced around the turn of the century – producing acetylene gas from carbide, or using the vapour created by mixing petrol and air.

Here is a list of the country house gasworks identified to date. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to it. Please let me know via the e-mail address on the welcome page if you find any more. Coal gasworks needed gas holders to store what they made, and these can usually be seen on old maps. Acetylene or petrol/air gas was not stored – just produced when needed – and the apparatus involved was much smaller and simpler. As a result they tend not to show on old maps, but may get a mention in documents such as sales notices.

Place	Type	Date	Evidence	Notes	Remains (if known)
Barkbooth,Cartmel Fell.SD41319060	Petrol/air	1920s	Personal correspondence & recollections from previous resident		Gas house demolished. Pipework in house cellar.
Beathwate House,SD48878621	Acetylene		1910 Finance Act surveyor’s notebook – “  house lit throughout with acetylene gas – own plant”.	Info from Stephen Read. House demolished.	None
Belle Isle,SD39259645	?	1873-1885	List of tenant’s fixtures at CRO D/Cu/3/88 includes ‘apparatus for gas-making’	Info from Adam Menuge
Boarbank Hall,SD37887660	Coal	Post purchase by Henry Chandler in 1863	OS 25” 2nd ed..Barrow CRO BD3 17/SP3/24 – 1898 Sales particulars	1921 sale notice advertises ‘electric lighting’	Retort house still obvious. Field wall bends round where gas holder stood
Castletown House, Rockcliffe.NY34636216	Coal		25” 2nd ed XV1/5.Cumbria HER – SMR 10352	Referred to in HER as “Rockliffe Gas Works”	Owner recalls “knocking the building down many moons ago”
Conishead Priory,SD30507610	Coal	Late 1850s	OS 25” 2nd ed. (not 1st)1852 sold to Henry Askew, then again in 1865 – bill of sale refers to “private gas works”	See S.E.Holmes: The Paradise of Furness, 2012	None
Crofton Hall, Thursby. NY30304990	Coal?		OS 6″ 1868 shows Gas House	Hall demolished 1958	Gas house site cleared
Eden Hall, Penrith.NY56133262	Coal	Given as 1876 in local walk leaflet	6” 2nd ed L/14 .Gasman’s wages slip.Cumbria HER – SMR No.11163	Hall rebuilt in late 1860s, and demolished 1934	HER refers to “site of old gasometer”, but retort house still in situ
Fell Foot, Newby Bridge.SD38178718 (Gaslight : illuminating Fell Foot ; Kevin Grice et al, The Cumbrian Industrialist Vol 12, CIHS 2020)	Coal	Date stone 1869	OS 25” 2nd ed.NT Conservation Plan	House demolished 1907/8.Col. Ridehalgh’s steam yachts lit by gas making apparatus	Gas house converted to cottage – Grade II listed.Gas lights in boathouse.
Gilgarron/en/an Mansion, Distington.NY03062286	Acetylene		1921 sale notice referred to in Les Nicholson’s “Distington” includes “gas house with acetylene generating plant”	House demolished 1957	None
Graythwaite Old Hall, Satterthwaite.SD37259085	Acetylene	1905 – 1938(?)	CRO archive Z1179/4 – architect’s survey of house	Housed in a wood framed building with a corrugated roof
Holbeck House, Windermere.NY39220226	Coal		OS 25” 2nd ed. Shows site of gasometer	Bought as a “hunting lodge” in 1888 by Earl of Lonsdale
Holmrook Hall, Gosforth.NY08090010	Acetylene		1923 sales particulars mention acetylene gas
Kershope House, PentonNY47808220	Petrol/air		1920s Scotsman sale notice – “house lit by petrol gas”	Water supply from tank on hill above
Lowther Castle, Penrith.NY52242384	Coal		OS 25” 2nd ed shows “Gasworks” at the Saw Mill in the North Park	Lowther Archive (CRO) – 1898 booklet shows route of gas pipes to castle.
Milton Hall, Brampton.NY54856012	Petrol/air	Two plants – 1911 and 1916 – one replacing the other?	CRO archive D TH 2/39 & 2/47 – correspondence re installation	House demolished	None
Netherby Hall, Longtown.NY39827183	Coal		Gas Works shown on OS 25” 2nd ed. (not on 1st ed.)
Rigmaden Park, Mansergh.SD61188524	Coal		Gasometer on OS 25” 2nd ed – at Rigmaden Farm	Also water turbine in house cellar
Sedgwick House, Sedgwick.SD51278699	Coal	New house built 1868-69	Gasometer on OS 25” 2nd ed – in village		Shape of gasometer evident in garden until recently
Sizergh Castle, Levens.SD49858790	Producer gas			Powered generator to supply lighting	Electrical switchboard in Power House
Tallentire Hall, Bridekirk.NY10383520	Coal		Gasometer on OS 25” 2nd ed.
Underley Hall, Kirkby Lonsdale.SD60877999	Coal		Gasometer on OS 25” 2nd ed. – at the Home Farm
Warwick Hall, Warwick-on-Eden.NY46815664	Coal	Pre 1865	In 1865 list of places built with stone from a local quarry.Gasometer on OS 25” 2nd ed – near Bridge End		Minor earthworks in field

 

(Page created 18/05/12. Last updated 21/02/16)