Hoxton: Former Shoreditch Electricity Generating Station & Refuse Destructor

Image: © Nigel Cox Taken: 25 Sep 2008

Built in 1896 by the Shoreditch Vestry, and inaugurated in 1897 by the physicist and engineer Lord Kelvin, this was an early purpose-built undertaking designed to generate electricity from steam created by burning rubbish and dust. It was therefore an early precursor of sustainable development and recycling. The generated electricity powered street lights and some adjacent washhouses, since demolished. At its most efficient it consumed about 10 tons of rubbish per day. It was built in Coronet Street and faces onto Hoxton Market. There is a Latin carving in the wall over the main entrance that reads "E. Pulvere, Lux, Et, Vis." which broadly translates into 'Light and Power from Dust’, while over the door is another carving "Vestry of St Leonard, Shoreditch Electric Light Station" The Vestry was a body responsible for local government and was a precursor of Shoreditch Borough Council. The works was eventually decommissioned and converted in 1994 for other uses. It is currently occupied by Circus Space http://www.thecircusspace.co.uk/

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