Biggar Gas Works
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Biggar Gas Works by Elliott Simpson as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Biggar Gas Works
Image: © Elliott Simpson Taken: 2 Aug 2007
This is the only remaining gasworks in Scotland. It was built in 1839 to provide gas for street lighting and domestic use. It operated until 1963. Coal was heated in retorts to drive off the gas and coal-tar. Tar and poisonous Hydrogen Sulphide were removed from the gas, and the residual coke was used to heat the retorts. The resulting clean gas was stored in small gasometers to maintain a supply at constant pressure for the town. Most local gasworks in Scotland were demolished after a gas grid using natural gas from the North Sea, became available in the 1970s. Biggar Gasworks, however, was preserved with financial support from Historic Scotland, the Scottish Development Department and the National Museums of Scotland. The museum is now in the care of the Biggar Museum Trust.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
55.623359
Longitude
-3.526997