The Pudsey Coal Gas Company

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The logos of Pudsey Coal Gas Company

The Clock Tower and Office Block 1999

The Pudsey Coal Gas Company

Coal gas was first used in the 1760's as a means of providing light. It was not generally used in the UK until the early 1800's, when coal gas was used to illuminate streets and properties. Pudsey was quite late in the race to use coal gas. The Borough Council passed an Act on 20th November 1844 proclaiming that Pudsey should have a gas supply, which should provide street lighting. It was not until 1868 - twenty four years later that action was taken to provide the promised street lighting. The Council were obviously concerned about the initial financial outlay but did not consider the gains which would ensure a very large profit margin.

Coal gas is made by heating coal to a very high temperature and excluding oxygen. The by-product of making coal gas is coke. Coke is quite valuable and is used in furnaces and by the steel industry.
The oven used for extracting the gas is called a retort.

Records on the use of coal gas in Pudsey during the early days no longer exist. As far as we know coal gas was first used by Gibraltar Mills during 1812.

Messrs. J. Gaunt of Grangefield Mill had installed a gas plant to provide lighting to their mill which they sold to the Pudsey Coal Gas Company in 1906 for 105 pounds. The Council had originally applied under the Joint Stock Company Act to call the new business the Pudsey & Bramley Coal Gas Company but dropped the Bramley connection by the time registration under the Act was complete. Two Leeds men, Mr. T. Shother (solicitor) and Mr. W. Watson (manufacturing chemist) financed the new company, which was finally registered on 2nd January 1845. A contract was secured to supply nearby Fulneck with gas as soon as the company began production.

By December 1846 Pudsey Coal Gas Company was supplying gas to 590 customers. These were mainly businesses such as factories, public buildings and street lighting. The company also supplied to Inns, shops, offices and lastly (because of cost) domestic properties. Customers consumption was measured by the number of lights they owned before the days of meters.

Pudsey Coal Gas Company secured a contract to buy bulk supplies of gas and at 8.30 on Friday 13th June 1941 the plant stopped production. Five retorts were kept under slow fire in case of emergency. Manufacture of gas began again On 23rd October 1944 until 25th March 1945 when the plant was used intermittently until its closure on 30th June 1950. The gas works then became a bulk storage station until 1972 when Natural gas was introduced. The site was sold in January 1990.

The office building was designed in 1877 by Mr. Milnes, a Bradford architect. At one end of the building stands a square clock tower with three illuminated faces supplied by Messrs. Potts of Leeds. Since its sale in 1990 the office building has been redeveloped as a business conference centre.

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