Gas Light and Coke Company War Memorial Rotunda, Canning Town North, London

Summary

War memorial. Erected to commemorate gas company workers lost during the First and Second World Wars. Built following the Second World War in a new memorial garden on the site of the former Bromley-by-Bow Gasworks.

Description

MATERIALS: a rotunda built of cast-stone with an openwork wrought-iron dome and two bronze plaques.

DESCRIPTION: the rotunda stands within a memorial garden on the site of the former Bromley-by-Bow gasworks. It is located adjacent to the Gas Light and Coke Company memorial lamp (originally located at Beckton Gas Works, Grade II-listed), the memorial plaque, and a statue of Sir Corbett Woodhall (Grade II-listed), just to the north of the gas company roundel outside the former London Gas Museum, and near seven gasholders (Grade II-listed). The memorial comprises a cast-stone rotunda formed of six spiral-fluted Corinthian columns resting on decorative pedestals and supporting a heavily enriched frieze upon which is an openwork wrought-iron dome. It is set on a paved circular stone base with a floral mosaic at the centre upon which is a stone memorial tablet carrying two bronze plaques. The upper plaque is cast with the depiction of an angel with sword and armour, probably Archangel Michael, and an inscription in raised lettering: THESE MEN DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY/ NAMES/ 1914-1919/ THE GAS LIGHT AND COKE COMPANY. There are 548 names of those that died during the First World War. The lower plaque is inscribed: TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE MEMBERS OF/ THE COMPANY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE WAR/ OF 1939-45 REQUIESCANT IN PACE/ NAMES. There are 402 names on the plaque and it is painted with the arms of the company, featuring a pair of salamanders breathing fire.

History

The aftermath of the First World War saw a huge wave of public commemoration with tens of thousands of memorials erected across the country. This memorial is situated on the site of the former Bromley-by-Bow Gasworks within a memorial garden. It was erected in honour of workers of the Gas Light and Coke Company who lost their lives. It appears to have been built when the memorial garden was created after the Second World War and is shown in this location in a photograph of 1957. The monument now stands next to the Gas Light and Coke Company memorial lamp (originally located at Beckton Gas Works, Grade II-listed), the memorial plaque, and a statue of Sir Corbett Woodhall (Grade II-listed), just to the north of the gas company roundel outside the former London Gas Museum.

Bromley-by-Bow Gasworks was built in 1870 to 1873 by the Imperial Gas Light and Coke Company (IGLCCo, established 1821). It was laid out with two large retort houses, an exhauster house, a boiler house, workshop, tanks and purifiers next to a large dock for coal barges at the south, and a group of nine gasholders built between 1871 and 1882 to the north (two since demolished). In 1876, the IGLCCo was taken over by the Gas Light and Coke Company; the oldest gas company in the world and the first to build a public gasworks at Westminster in 1812. By 1882, the Gas Light and Coke Company was one of only four gas companies supplying the inner parts of London. Men laid off from the company’s Beckton gasworks in 1889 prompted the founding of the National Union of Gasworkers and General Labourers, which subsequently became part of the General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trades Union (GMB Union), now one of the three largest trade unions in the UK. The expansion of the company and competition with electricity in the late C19, led to the development of the domestic market. Demonstrators were employed to promote gas cooking and the Home Service eventually developed into a full advisory service on domestic gas use (Graces Guide 2020). By 1924, the Gas Light and Coke Company was the largest supplier of gas in the world. Its divisional structure was carried into the nationalised industry in 1949 when it became the North Thames Gas Board, one of twelve regional gas boards. The Gas Light and Coke Company is identified as the original company from which British Gas descended (Ibid). The discovery of natural gas in the North Sea in 1965, together with rising coal prices, made coal-produced gas uneconomical (Montagu Evans 2021) and the gasworks closed in 1976. The seven surviving gasholders at the former gasworks are now thought to be the largest group of Victorian gasholders in the world (Grade II-listed).

Reasons for Listing

The Gas Light and Coke Company War Memorial Rotunda, erected after the First World War and situated at the former Bromley-by-Bow Gasworks site, London, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a rare surviving example of a memorial dedicated to the employees of a gas company and an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the workforce;

* the rotunda, with memorial plaques at its centre, is a well-detailed structure built with Corinthian columns rising from decorative pedestals and supporting a heavily embellished frieze.

Historic interest:

* located on the site of the former Bromley-by-Bow Gasworks, the memorial is dedicated to the employees of the Gas Light and Coke Company, the oldest gas company in the world and later the largest supplier in the world as well as the original company from which British Gas descended.

Group value:

* the memorial has particularly strong claims to group value, being located in a memorial garden adjacent or near to: the largest group of Victorian gasholders known to remain in the world (seven gasholders Grade II-listed), the Gas Light and Coke Company war memorial lamp (Grade II-listed) and memorial plaque (also recommended for listing), the statue of the eminent gas engineer Sir Corbett Woodhall (Grade II-listed), and the Gas Light and Coke Company Roundel outside the former London Gas Museum.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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