Gasholder No 1, former Bromley-by-Bow gasworks

Gasholder No 1, Bromley-by-Bow Gasworks

Built between 1871 and 1872 for the Imperial Gas Light and Coke Company, this circular gasholder was designed by engineers Joseph Clark and Thomas Kirkham and constructed by the contractors Westwood and Wrights.

The guide frame comprises three tiers of 28 columns joined by horizontal girders (Type 14 in Tucker's Typology of gasholders). The lower columns are cast iron, each fixed on a substantial moulded cast-iron pedestal. These pedestals feature fielded panels and oval plaques embossed with the letters "MESSRS CLARK & KIRKHAM / ENGINEERS" and "WESTWOOD & WRIGHTS / CONTRACTORS", along with the construction date and an eagle motif of the Imperial Gas Light and Coke Company. The lower columns are cast as Roman Doric columns with moulded bases and capitals. Above each column sits a junction or connection box in the form of an entablature comprising a Doric frieze with triglyphs beneath a cornice. The cornice is a detachable casting that conceals the structural connection between the lower column and the one above. The lower girders are embellished with filigree cast-ironwork comprising interlaced decorative patterns.

The middle tier consists of cast-iron columns cast as a simplified version of the Corinthian order, each surmounted by a plain frieze. The attached middle tier girders are enriched with an interlocking circle motif. Materials in the lower and middle tiers combine wrought and cast iron.

The upper tier was added between 1925 and 1927 and comprises steel columns linked by steel plate girders strengthened with T-section vertical stiffeners at quarter points along their length. Each column rests on an elongated octagonal steel base plate and is topped by a plain steel connection box and a heavily moulded cornice, which appears to be the original cast-iron cornice relocated from below when the additional steel column was added. At this time, the two lower iron girders were strengthened with steel plates to the top and bottom flanges and vertical steel angle struts between the flanges. Steel diagonal bracing was installed between the columns and girders of each tier, formed of steel I-beams connected at the centre by steel plates. A steel handrail runs along the top of the guide frame for a walkway. Attached to the inside edge of each column are guide rails for wrought-iron roller carriages upon which the telescopic bell of the gasholder rose as it was filled with gas and fell as it was emptied. Three lifts were added during the 1925 to 1927 alterations, including two spiral-guided flying lifts, to the gas bell.

Note: The bell and tank are not included in the listing of special architectural or historic interest, though works affecting the character of the listed building as a whole may still require listed building consent.