Brentford Gas Company War Memorial Plaque

Summary

War memorial. Erected in 1922 at the Southall Gasworks of the Brentford Gas Company, subsequently taken over by the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1926. The memorial was later moved to this site, the former Bromley-by-Bow Gasworks, and into a memorial garden created after the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

The Brentford Gas Company war memorial plaque at the Bromley-by-Bow gasworks memorial garden, London, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a rare surviving example of a memorial dedicated to the employees of a gas company and an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the workforce.

Group value:

* the memorial has particularly strong claims to group value, being located in a memorial garden adjacent or near to: the largest group of Victorian gasholders known to remain in the world (seven gasholders Grade II-listed), the Gas Light and Coke Company war memorial lamp (Grade II-listed), rotunda (Grade II-listed), and the statue of the eminent gas engineer Sir Corbett Woodhall (Grade II-listed).

History

The aftermath of the First World War saw a huge wave of public commemoration with tens of thousands of memorials erected across the country. This memorial is situated on the site of the former Bromley-by-Bow Gasworks within a memorial garden. It was erected in 1922 at Southall Gasworks in honour of workers of the Brentford Gas Company who lost their lives. There are 107 names on the bronze plaque. The memorial was later moved into this memorial garden, which was created after the Second World War. The monument now stands next to the Gas Light and Coke Company memorial lamp (originally located at Beckton Gas Works, Grade II-listed), the memorial pergoda (Grade II-listed), and a statue of Sir Corbett Woodhall (Grade II-listed), just to the north of the gas company roundel outside the former London Gas Museum.

The Brentford Gas Company was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1821 with a gasworks situated on either side of Brentford High Street, which had a long river frontage to the River Thames. In 1868, the company expanded with a new works adjacent to Montague Road in Southall. It took over numerous companies in the early C20 before it was itself absorbed into the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1926. The Gas Light and Coke Company was the oldest gas company in the world and the first to build a public gasworks at Westminster in 1812. It took over the Bromley-by-Bow Gasworks of the Imperial Gas Light and Coke Company in 1876 and by 1924 it was the largest supplier of gas in the world. The gas industry was nationalised in 1949. The discovery of natural gas in the North Sea in 1965, together with rising coal prices, made coal-produced gas uneconomical (Montagu Evans 2021) and the Bromley-by-Bow Gasworks closed in 1976. The seven surviving gasholders at the former gasworks are now thought to be the largest group of Victorian gasholders in the world (Grade II-listed).

Details

War memorial. Erected in 1922 at the Southall Gasworks of the Brentford Gas Company, subsequently taken over by the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1926. The memorial was later moved to this site, the former Bromley-by-Bow Gasworks, and into a memorial garden created after the Second World War.

MATERIALS: a bronze plaque set on a stone tablet with a stone base.

DESCRIPTION: the war memorial plaque to employees of the Brentford Gas Company stands within a memorial garden on the site of the former Bromley-by-Bow gasworks. It is located adjacent to the Gas Light and Coke Company memorial lamp (originally located at Beckton Gas Works, Grade II-listed), the memorial rotunda (Grade II-listed), and a statue of Sir Corbett Woodhall (Grade II-listed), just to the north of the Gas Light and Coke Company roundel outside the former London Gas Museum, and near seven gasholders (Grade II-listed). The memorial comprises a bronze plaque set on a chamfered stone tablet approximately 1.2m high and 1.8m wide with a chamfered rectangular stone base. The bronze plaque on the front of the tablet is cast with an inscription in raised lettering: IN PROUD AND GRATEFUL/ REMEMBRANCE/ MCMXIV. OF OUR COMRADES IN THESE WORKS/ MCMXVIII./ WHO DURING THE GREAT WAR/ LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES/ FOR US AND FOR THEIR COUNTRY./ NAMES/ “GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS”.

Sources

Websites
Brentford Gas Company information on The National Archives website, accessed 17 October 2022 from https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/0bda74c3-5d55-4a27-8575-8fab0a91dd35
Graces Guide to British Industrial History, ‘Gas Light and Coke Company’, accessed 17 October 2022 from https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/
Imperial War Museum War Memorial Register Reference 12643, accessed 17 October 2022 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/12643
Look Up London: Bromley-by-Bow Gasworks Garden, accessed 17 October 2022 from https://lookup.london/bromley-by-bow-gas-works-garden/

Other
Montagu Evans, Bromley-by-Bow gasholders: report to support enhanced listing application (January 2021)

End of official list entry

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