Gasholder Number 172 at former Great Yarmouth Gasworks

This gasholder, built in 1884, was designed by the London consulting engineer Robert P. Spice for the Great Yarmouth Gas Company and constructed by Samuel Cutler and Sons of Millwall, London. Following settlement of the foundations which caused a water tank to leak, the gasholder was dismantled and rebuilt slightly to the east in 1885. The tank and bell are made of rivetted cast-iron plates, while the guide frame is a composite structure of cast-iron columns and steel box-lattice girders.

The gasholder is circular, approximately 29 metres high and 29.8 metres in diameter, and is of a column-guided type. It comprises a circular guide frame (Type 18 in Tucker’s typology of gasholders), an above-ground water tank, and a telescopic gas bell. The guide frame consists of three tiers of 14 cast-iron tubular columns connected by octagonal joint boxes to a triple tier of horizontal, curved steel box girders. The box girders feature repeating St Andrew’s cross latticework and decorative end details; the top tier is supported by Paddon wind ties. The columns are generally designed to resemble Tuscan columns, though a 1909 photograph suggests they may have originally featured Corinthian capitals. They have octagonal moulded bases, astragals, and capitals, which have been adapted to accommodate external bolts and stiffening feathers. Each lower column has an oval makers’ plate marked ‘S CUTLER & SONS / CONTRACTORS LONDON / 1884’ or ‘RP SPICE / ENGINEER / LONDON/ 1884’ in relief. The top tier of columns is topped with needle finials on moulded bases with pierced volutes. Guide rails are attached to the inner face of each column to support the wrought-iron carriage rollers that carry the three sections of the telescopic bell as it rises or falls within the tank. The bell also bears makers’ plates as described above. An access ladder is fixed to one side of the guide frame.