In 1894, Mr L J Smith of Smith and Co Booksellers in Marlow High Street needed to fetch some things from the shop cellar. It was unlit down there so Mr Smith did what he had always done and lit a candle. He went down the steps but no sooner had he reached the cellar itself, a loud explosion occured and he was thrown bodily across the room. The sound drew an immediate concerned and curious crowd. They were thankfully able to take advantage of a ready supply of water to put out a fire in the cellar. Miraculously, Mr Smith survived the experience although no doubt he felt more than a little bruised. The cause of the explosion was a leaking gas pipe coming from the main into the man's shop. This was not the only gas related explosion in Marlow! So this is a potted history of some of the incidents relating to the problem of heating and lighting Marlow by gas in Victorian and Edwardian times.
Smith & co, 1903.
I'm not going to give a detailed history of the Marlow Gas and Coke Company as it was called at first, for example the issuing of shares and so on, as relatively few Marlow residents were involved in this. So here's a quick summary. The company is listed as fully registered on Aug 4 1848, and it held it's first AGM at the Crown Hotel in April 1849. The gas works were constructed by Mr Atkins of Oxford, off Dean Street, between Cambridge Rd and the area beyond where Oram Court is now. The manager usually lived on site and the stokers nearby. The works were leased out for much of the Victorian period, first to Mr Hastings from 1870, then for a long time to Charles Carter. The company was liquidated then reformed as a new one when Carter's lease expired in 1895. The works continued to operate until 1951, and all of it has now been demolished.
The first works gasometer had a 30ft diameter and was 7ft deep. It could hold 6,000ft of gas. This was replaced in 1860 with a 9000ft capacity one. The first foreman was Mr W Gardiner of Ashby de la Zouch.
A steady beginning
The High Street and a number of private houses were first lit by gas in late October and early November 1848, replacing oil mostly. The number of people hooked up to the gas network, and the number of streets lit by gas gradually expanded.
All Saints was illuminated by gas for the first time in early September 1850, and the Salem Chapel (Christchurch URC, Oxford Road) followed in December 1859. The Marlow train station building and signals did not follow until 1874. Complaints were made periodically about the quality of the street lamps and there was also a regular problem with the lamps being broken by stone throwing miscreants, only some of them children. But visitors to the town seem generally impressed by the early lighting efforts. An 1866 guide said that while the town was "irregularly built" it was at least "well paved and lighted."
All kinds of abominations after dark
There were always spots that someone thought should be better provided for light wise however. In 1881, the entrance to Church Passage gained it's first lamp post to deter the "all kinds of abomination" committed there after dark. Those upset by the passages less savoury reputation thought that no respectable person would dream of being seen there. If seeing anyone was possible in such lighting! The location of the passage near the Causeway boys school was considered to make the case more urgent, even though the school itself obviously did not open late in the evenings. Those worried about the dark streets would not have been happy by the money saving measures later adopted by the council which meant that street lamps were turned off on clear moonlit nights at 6-7pm from 1903. At least the clock on the Crown was illuminated by gas at night, by 1915.
All the atmosphere aflame
Things did not always go smoothly as you can tell from the first paragraph in this post. In December 1872, all the shops and homes lit by gas were plunged into darkness following an unpleasant gale. Eventually the supply was restored to a limited degree. The reason for the loss of power was no mystery to the residents of the streets surrounding the Marlow Gas Works. One of the gasometers had been overturned by the wind, causing a tremendous release of gas into the air. Unfortunately this became ignited in unclear circumstances and a terrifying explosion resulted. The flames were seen to shoot high into the air and the force of the blast rattled the windows of homes over some distance. "The whole atmosphere appeared to be on fire." Resident rushed from their homes and so many hands were available to prevent the flames reaching the all too near houses. These survived with minor damage - charred woodwork and door frames mostly - but the gas works itself obviously needed some repair. Two stokers recieved numerous burns each, but the avoidance of any fatalities must have seemed miraculous. It's speculated a nearby lamp was the source of ignition.
Compared to this, complaints made periodically about a "stench" coming from the Works seems quite tame, even if it could be detected in West Street.
Marlow leads the way
Given this experience, I wonder how the residents of "Gas Alley" and neighbouring houses would have felt if they knew about the work conducted by Mr Charles Hastings, gas works engineer and manager, the following year. He had been approached by Mr J Kromschroeder, who wanted to conduct experiments in producing gas by a cheaper method. This meant using petroleum instead of coal. This was understood to be more volatile and there was a question as to whether it would travel well through piping over a longer distance. Hastings agreed to let Kromschroeder build his apparatus in a shed at the works. After several months, the experiment was declared a success. It was announced that for a while Marlow had been the first town to be lit by non coal gas as the petrol based version had done the job. The novelty of that was reported far and wide. Kromschroeder announced his process would be ideal for use in small towns or private estates. But after this, things went quiet, and the process does not seem to have been adopted at more than one or two gas works, and certainly not at Marlow. Kromschroeder sold his patent to the Eupion Gas Company, who seem to have chosen not to develop it.
The gas explosion, and a "coal famine" caused by flooding and prolonged frosts that made "the transit of coal impossible" shortly afterwards saw Mr Hastings facing steep rise in costs, and this lead to his financial ruin. He had leased more than one gas works but experience could not help in such circumstances. He had signed a 28 year lease in 1870. His superintendent Charles Carter took on a new 21 year lease in 1873.
Another fire
The last potentially serious - if it had not been averted - incident at the Gas Works occured in 1900. There was a fire at a hay rick and a large barn used by Augustus Creswell near the gas works. This spread to two cottages but the quick action of the gas works employees lead by acting manager George Wood Jnr saved the day and the homes. (See note 1 below) They had broken down the doors of the cottages and removed the furniture in an effort to limit damage if the buildings themselves could not be saved. How grateful the occupiers would have been not to have lost all their possessions had the fire indeed done it's worst. (It was believed to be an act of arson on investigation.)
Put a penny in the slot
To encourage people to install gas, a series of exhibitions and gas cooking lectures were held, over several days at a time, usually in the Music Room of St Peter's Street (now the Masonic centre). In 1895 the Great Marlow Gas co offered to fit up houses with a rental value of less than 10s a week, for free. They would provide a gas stove, 2 brackets for lighting, and a gas pendant into which various gas powered appliances could be plugged in. Most importantly, they also provided a penny slot gas meter. You paid for what you used, and if you didn't have a penny for the meter, you recieved no gas. In exchange the company got to charge those with meters more per unit of gas used compared to those who paid for the appliances outright. These penny powered gas meters were not infrequently raided during burglaries.
The Gas Co estimated that there had been perhaps 5 gas stoves in all of Marlow in 1890. Five years later, after their exhibition, they had orders for 25 stoves in hand. They would also rent you a stove if you needed a little more persuasion on the benefits of cooking by gas. Miss Stanfield of the Sheffield school of cookery had travelled down to give cookery demonstrations using gas for the 1895 exhibition. It can't have been easy to perform in such an improvised kitchen. These events continued into the Edwardian times, when you could also take advantage of a stroll around Mr Eddowes gas showroom at his Spittal Street ironmongers. (Formerly Meakes ironmongers, now M&S Simply Food.) Eddowes was also a gas fitter.
Gas works improvements
The gas works site expanded in 1895 and 1898. The local paper thought these works would solve the cause of many complaints about the quality, quantity and cost of Marlow's Gas supply. The 1895 improvements saw a 50ft wide gasometer with a 40,000 ft of gas capacity arrive plus a tank capable of holding many thousand gallons of tar. A few years later the company bought additional land at the rear of the premises to safeguard their ability to expand in the future.
Further improvements were made in 1906 when the Gas Co gave up some of their site in order that Cambridge Road could be widened. The old workshops and managers office came down, to be replaced by commodius new premises. These would include a showroom with office adjacent and stores above. They would also gain a weighbridge in the yard to measure the coal coming in and the coke going out - this was sold by the half ton or ton to the public. (You could also buy tar from them.)
Electric lights anyone?
In 1901 the Marlow Urban District Council recieved a letter from the board of the Provincial Electric Supply Co who said they had applied to the Board of Trade for the right to supply electric light to the town. But it was not to be. Some of the council were shareholders in the Gas Co, and perhaps they thought the provision of gas lighting would be uneconomical with such competition. They did not act to encourage the company or any other and so Marlow did not gain general access to the electric network until the 1930's. A few of the larger private houses did however have their own electrical generators long before then including Three Gables and Highfields.
Oram Court, Dean Street. One part of the old gas works site.
Notes:
1 George was acting manager as the previous one, John Howse died on 12th August that year. Howse had lived on site like most of the managers did, and died at his residence there. Some sources say he had taken part in the construction of the original works when the Gas Co was formed. He became the engineer and manager circa 1875. He was taken ill suddenly a week before his death. Howse was a member of Marlow Fire Brigade as engineer and also a member of the Loyal Orphans Hope Lodge of the Odd Fellows - a sort of friendly society with a masonic love of ritual. His membership of this meant a second funeral service using the Odd Fellows own burial service. Members wore a sprig of thyme on their mourning attire and threw more thyme on the coffin as it was rested in the grave. The funeral took place at Holy Trinity Church, Marlow on 16 August.
An advert for the replacement for Howse stated the position was for a "working manager" who would be expected to be capable of doing small repairs on site, reading meters etc. Wages £2 a week including a house and an allowance of coal and gas. (1900)
For more on problems at the Works with lighting in the First World War, see this post: here
SOURCES
J R McCulloch, A Dictionary Geographical Statistical and Historical of Various Countries, Places and Principal Natural Objects Vol 3 (Longman, green and Co 1866)
The Gas and Water Co's Directory 1883.
Ure, Andrew, Ures Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and mines (Longman, Green & Co, 1875)
Parliamentary Papers Vol 50, (Report by registrar of Joint Stock Companies) HMSO 1849
Gas World Journal, May 26 1894 (Ben Bros. 1894)
Marlow Guide 1905
South Bucks Standard 12 January 1894, 12 May 1895, 23 October 1896, 17 August & 7 September 1900, 5 July 1901, 9 January 1903 British Library Archive, accessed via the BNA.
Bucks Herald 14 September 1850, 16 July 1887, 06 February 1915 as above.
South Bucks Free Press 10 December 1859. As above.
Reading Mercury, 21 & 28 December 1872, 21 November 1874. As above.
Scientific American, 26 July 1873, via the InternetArchive. (Vol 29, issue 4)
Journal of Gas Supply, Water Supply and Sanitary Improvement, Aug 1900. (Vol.76)
The Engineer (1875 collected edition) Vol 40.
