Gasholder No. 8

Gasholder No. 8 is a Grade II listed gasholder guide frame, originally constructed in 1883 by engineer John Clark and contractor Westwood and Wright for the Gas Light and Coke Company. It was relocated approximately 300 meters south from its original gasworks site due to the expansion of St Pancras Railway Station, which resulted in the burial or demolition of the gasholder tank and destruction of the bell. The guide frame was dismantled around 2001, restored by Shepley Engineers, and re-erected in 2014 surrounding a park.

The structure is made of cast-iron columns and wrought-iron girders. It features a circular design with two tiers of cast-iron columns connected by horizontal wrought-iron lattice girders, classified as ‘Type 14’ in Tucker’s typology of gasholders. The lower tier of columns is in the Doric order, while the upper tier is a simplified version of the Corinthian order. Each column supports an entablature with a classical sequence of mouldings, culminating in a cornice; the Doric columns support a triglyph, and the Corinthian columns support a frieze and a dentilled cornice. The columns consist of shorter sections bolted together internally, and the capitals and entablature blocks conceal the joints at the top of each tier. Plaques at the base of the lower columns indicate the original construction date of 1883. Inside each column, guide rails are attached for the roller carriages that allowed the gasholder bell to rise and fall. The roller carriages have been preserved and remain connected to the guide rails. The columns are also linked at the entablature level by I-section 60 degree-triple-warren lattice girders, constructed from riveted flat plate and angle sections.