SITE OF SNAITH GAS WORKS

The Snaith Gas Works on the end of George Street( North Side) with two gas holders

George Street rises towards the level crossing from the Gas Holders.

The farm in the foreground was Villa Farm owned by Mr Wood.

The Villa Farm housing estate now stands on this site with one of the streets called Woodville.

This was the house for the Manager and his family.   The photo was taken during the horrendous floods of 1947. Carlton Bridge can be seen in the background.  You might just be able to make out Jane Naylor in the window.  She was the wife of  the Gas Works Manager, William Henry Naylor.

SITE OF SNAITH GAS WORKS 1847- 1958

OS Grid Reference SE645222    Lowgate Snaith ( Now GEORGE STREET)

In 1837, a group of men came together and formed a committee. They called themselves SNAITH GAS COMPANY and they were discussing the possibility of creating a Gas Works to supply gas lighting to streets, lanes, houses and buildings in Snaith.

Over the following few years they studied what was needed to produce and distribute gas.  They contacted potential suppliers, found a suitable site and developed a plan to bring the project to fruition. By 1845 they had drawn up plans and specifications and they began to get quotations for how much it would cost.

The year of action was 1847.

3^rd February  A quotation for the construction of The Gas Works and  installation of piping and lighting through the town was received  from a local builder,  The price was £1533 and ten shillings.

 

17^th May  An advert was published in several local newspapers  asking for companies to tender for the contract  to build the Gas Works and ancilliary construction.  See a copy of the advert below.

 

13^th June   One of the Committee members, George Daniel, agreed to transfer ownership of a piece of land that he owned on Snaith Marsh, to the committee ( then known as Snaith Gas Light & Coke Co.)

The price of conveyance was £65.

 

5^th August –  SNAITH GAS COMPANY was registered  to provide gas to the town of Snaith   ( A two mile radius from Snaith Parish Church) There were six Directors and they agreed  on 340 shares at a cost of  £5 a share as a basis with a £1850 limit on capital.

The Chairman of Directors was Robert James Sergeantson (Vicar of Snaith), The Treasurer was Henry Eadon of The Lodge Snaith and The Secretary was Edward Elsdale Clark (Solicitor)  The directors met on the first  Monday of every month at The Downe Arms

 

23^rd September  The contract for construction was awarded to John Sykes ( Builder)  and John Pilkington  (Iron Founder).   They were the ones that had submitted the original quotation in February.

 

9^th October  An advert appeared in the WANTED section of The Leeds Mercury newspaper.

WANTED  A site Manager for SNAITH GAS WORKS.   Application stating terms and respectable references to be made on or before 22^nd October and sent to Mr William Hepworth.(Office Manager)

 

It would seem the gas works were completed and operational before the end of 1847. The works contained a variety of buildings/ structures, including: The Retort House, Refining Houses, Gasometer, Dry well, Tar well, Chimney, Coal Sheds, Cottage with two rooms, Office, Kitchen, Well for the cottage. There was also a boundary wall and entrance gates.

 

1848-   February 18^th 1848     A notice appeared in Doncaster, Nottingham and Lincoln Gazette. Inspectors had been appointed to ensure that an act of parliament passed several years earlier to ensure gas lighting was installed in towns, were having a meeting at The Plough Inn on 7^th March to move things forward quickly and get gas lighting fully operational in the town.

The three inspectors were:  Joseph Bowman, William Umpelby  and Christopher Pocklington.

 

     1849-  January-      William Hepworth was still the office manager

 

May 1923   A strip of land was purchased from Roderick Shearburn (Snaith Hall) to extend the Gas Works site on its western side.

 

September 1939   The manager of the Gas Works was Bertie Hunt, aged 53, living at the Gas Works cottage. Also living there was Kate Turner, aged 76 and incapacitated   He also took in a child refugee as part of the government’s pre-war preparations.

 

 

 

1944   Snaith Gas Company Ltd ( formed 1943) took over the ownership and operation of Snaith Gas Works from the previous company, which was now in liquidation.  They also acquired the assets of  Rawcliffe and Rawcliffe Bridge  New Gas and Coke Company Ltd which was also in liquidation. In May, the new company was renamed Rawcliffe, Snaith and District Gas Company Ltd.

 

A new manager was appointed.  William Henry Naylor

 

In 1947, the site was very badly affected by flooding and Ernest Thornton, who grew up in Snaith, remembers standing with his father in what was then a farmyard, looking across the water at his Auntie Jane (wife of William Henry Naylor) who was stranded in the  Gas Works cottage.  Ernest’s father was busy trying to get provisions across to Jane, but he did have time to take the photo below.

Ernest describes the Gas Works as like a second home to him as he spent a lot of time there during his primary school years.  He remembers the coal coming into the railway sidings and being stocked at the Gas Works.  The coal was wheelbarrowed into the retort house and kept dry to fuel the retorts.  When the burning process was completed, the red hot embers were discharged onto the concrete floor, using a heavy long metal rake and then sprayed with water to produce coke (a smokeless fuel).  This was then wheeled out to a stock pile and was available for sale to the public.

Another bi-product of the gas production was tar, which was stored in a well, ready for sale.

 

Snaith Gas works was a very busy place and could be a very dangerous place. Smoke and unpleasant smells filled the air around the site on a regular basis.  A Snaith blacksmith (Arnold Knowles) supplied and maintained  a variety of tools for the Gas Works including shovels, rakes and wheelbarrows.

 

1949  With the nationalisation of the Gas Industry, Snaith Gas Works now became part of the Hull Group of the  North Eastern Gas Board (NEGB)

 

1958 Gas production came to an end and the buildings associated with gas production were gradually dismantled.  However, the site carried on as a Gas Holder Station, with gas produced in Selby and piped to Snaith, being held in two gas holders.  The Selby Gas Works had been upgraded in 1923 & 1934 and extended in 1952.

 

William Henry Naylor oversaw the dismantling of the production facility and died in December 1966, aged 63.

 

With the introduction of natural gas in 1973, the two gas holders were removed between 1973 and 1976 and the site became a gas distribution centre which continues to this day, with a small fenced- off area sandwiched between modern houses.

ADVERT ASKING FOR TENDERS TO BUILD THE SNAITH GAS WORKS   17th May 1847

THE PIECE OF LAND THAT THE GROUP ACQUIRED     13th June 1847

          

THIS IS A CRUDE PLAN OF THE SITE    EARLY 20th CENTURY

THIS IS A SITE PLAN FROM 1972 WHEN IT WAS A GAS HOLDER STATION

          A NORTH EASTERN GAS BOARD  COMMER VAN - MARCH 1950

                          A REGULAR VISITOR TO SNAITH GAS WORKS

If you want more information about the Gas Industry and how gas was produced CLICK THE LINK BELOW  and then CLICK          THE HISTORY OF GAS.

GAS MUSEUM

We have spoken to many local people who remember the Gas Works ib Snaith

Most memories are about the horrible smells that came from the works, particular the tar making department, but there are also stories of  many adventures for young people, which today would be a Health & Safety nightmare.

Here are some fond memories from Ernest Thornton.

The gas works in Snaith was my second home, mainly because my auntie Jane (my dad’s elder Sister) and her husband Bill Naylor who was the gas works manager lived in the gas house, I went to the Primary school ( now a care centre for people with learning difficulties) which from the playground you could see the gas holder.just amazing, to a five years old boy,anyway.

During my primary school years I visited most days and weekends, even into my secondary school I was still going there, to such an extent when I left school l started an apprenticeship with the NEGB based at the gas works in Selby.

I was taught skills for work and life by experts, which I think have served me well.

In 1947 I remember standing on Wood’s stockyard with my Father trying to get provisions across to auntie Jane who was upstairs,dad took a picture.  NB  THE PHOTOGRAPH IS ABOVE. I think It was a sad time but they recovered, and went on to keep producing gas for the people of Snaith,

I was the only one of our family who went to Snaith primary school. When I was allowed to go on my own to school, I didn’t go the normal way, I went Finley’s lane,Moor hill,Spa well, Senior’s farm, Hartleys brewery where Dan Harrand (Brewery Manager) would be standing at the brewery gate with a piece of malt to help me on my way