Retort House of the Old Gas Works (Now Gas Showroom) is a Grade II listed building in the Snowdonia National Park local planning authority area, Wales. First listed on 19 June 1990. Gas works showroom.
Retort House of the Old Gas Works (Now Gas Showroom)
- WRENN ID
- far-cobalt-holly
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Snowdonia National Park
- Constituency
- Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP: Liz Saville Roberts (PC)
- Country
- Wales
- Date first listed
- 19 June 1990
- Type
- Gas works showroom
- Address
- Retort House of the Old Gas Works (Now Gas Showroom), Dolgellau, Gwynedd
- OS grid reference
- SH 728 178
- Coordinates
- 52.74366, -3.88458
- Source
- Cadw listing
Description
The Retort House of the Old Gas Works, now a gas showroom, is a two-storey building with three bays, constructed from coursed rubble masonry. It features a gently pitched slate roof with raking gable copings on moulded kneelers and boarded eaves supported by modillions. A truncated chimney stack is located on the right, with a projecting ramped base and a string course.
The front facade includes three tall recessed round arches, supported by stone voussoirs on impost blocks with a stressed keystone and pilasters. Above, there are three inset round-arched windows on the first floor, also with stone voussoirs, featuring modern small pane glazing and an interrupted sill band. The central bay previously had a doorway, which now has a deep stone lintel shaped to form a doorhead, replaced by a modern small-paned window. The building has a plain plinth.
On the right end elevation, there is a former first-floor window next to the chimney base, featuring a round arch and stone voussoirs. The wall below has been opened to create a modern entrance. The left end elevation has two round-arched windows with stone voussoirs, with glazing similar to that of the front.
This building is an architecturally ambitious example of structures associated with small rural gas works from the mid-19th century.
Local climate
Retort House of the Old Gas Works (Now Gas Showroom) sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,340 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 96% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 93% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 52% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- Sale history — 3 transactions since 2000
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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