Harringay online

Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Hornsey Gasworks

I may have missed it but has there been a community discussion on the history of the gasworks and life and times of its community which was based around Hornsey Park.

Parkside Malvern RA gathered a fair amount of stuff over the years but the Association in its original form no longer exists to discuss and share what it knew.

We've probably lost the chance to speak with those who knew the Works when they were operational but perhaps across HoL there is a way to piece together a written social history as well as evidence of its architecture. 

The archway entrance from Clarendon Road N8 is on the left of the photo from inside the Works.

Tags for Forum Posts: hornsey park

Views: 375

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion


Admin for testingPermalink Reply by Hugh on Wednesday

Admin for testingPermalink Reply by Hugh on Wednesday

PS: I note that you have a fuller set of info on the picture you added than I have. I take it then it that the photo came from a photographer who accompanied  a visit by "120 members and friends of the London and Southern District Junior Gas Association" on 15 March 1910 (As reported in Hornsey & Finsbury Park Journal, 18 March 1910)?

Permalink Reply by Marcus yesterday

Would be interested to see if the H&FPJ article is the same as this from National Grid's archives. The original 1865 60,000 cu. ft. holder is on the right (and uncovered in 2007 during construction of the Spine Road) and the later 1870s Holder no.7 at 360,000cu. ft. (uncovered by St.William) is just in sight on the left, almost on top of the General Manager's rather commodious house. The helical Cutler frame, Holder no.3 was 860,000 or 938,000 cu.ft. - the former is in the cutting, the latter in a National Grid document. Holder no.1 was 3 million cu.ft. (which may also have been built by Cutlers)

My reason for writing is to find out if there is any memory of the community that worked at Hornsey Gas Works and whether there is any interest in its social history.  There has been much said about the holders at the time of their demise but to those who were involved in the Hornsey Gas Company, they were probably the least interesting thing about the place.


Admin for testingPermalink Reply by Hugh yesterday

"this from National Grid's archives"?

Permalink Reply by Marcus yesterday

They have an archive in Warrington. Not been there but PMRA picked up a few docs during the early and collaborative days of the Residents and Business Liaison Group (RBLG) which PMRA convened.

There were so many opportunities to do better than build what Haringey wanted but they were the invisible hand behind all decisions. The holder base of no.3 would have made a fantastic space for events beneath what got built. The above ground structure could have been preserved for work/ business/educational/entertainment/ performance uses or the frame part or fully retained around a new building. The brook was nearer the surface than Haringey ever admitted and could have been daylighted - it was after all open when Holder no.3 was built. We did get the polychromatic wall next to the railway repaired but the redoubts holding up the sidings are pretty well invisible and un acknowledged.  The Gas Company owned may of the houses in Hornsey Park - those who backed onto the Works would leave and come home over the bund wall via steps provided for the purpose - presumably houseproud wives and mothers expected the men to wash in the outhouse or scullery before being let into the rest of the house, or perhaps it was just convenience. It seems to have been a close and skilled community that took its responsibilities very seriously and was proud of what it did.  The explosion zones map tells us something of this, again from the NG archive. The romanticising of the holders in 21st century speak has always been a frustration but we should start with an understanding of what they were and what they were a part of. The symbiosis between Victorian engineering, commerce, the GNR, Durham mines, people and families is incredible and worthy of telling. I don't know where you are on this - I know you do amazing work and perhaps already know more than us but with the Heartlands now complete over the former gas works and PMRA fast fading as a force, it feels like this might be the last chance to tell the story.

Attachments:

Admin for testingPermalink Reply by Hugh yesterday

Thanks, Marcus. I've seen that plan before, but not such a good version of it. I think you and Eugene probably know as much as anyone about the area. Most of what I know is in the links I provided above.

I like the idea of gathering a community memory of the area and would be happy to be involved, but it's not something I currently have the scope to spend the large amount of time it would require. 


Admin for testingPermalink Reply by Hugh yesterday

PS: I have the HFPJ article along with a longer journal one from which the photo you posted was taken. I can email them to you if you're interested.

Permalink Reply by Marcus yesterday

Article attached didn't make it first time as it was too large

Attachments:
Permalink Reply by Marcus yesterday

Thanks Hugh. Perhaps start with a question to readers of HoL: do you have connections to or family memories of the gas works, or have you come across any memorabilia associated with it or its community. I guess a trawl through the papers would bring up more things similar to Eugene's adventures of George Smith and Coxwell's voyage - this link gives an idea of what happened A Record-Breaking Balloon Flight  

Eugene was on the RBLG so has probably shared other documents he uncovered

Attachments:
Permalink Reply by John Grover 13 hours ago

I was born on Clarendon Road  in 1947 , so I grew up living 6 house down from the entrance .

I remember the mother's with their prams lined up for cheap "coak" for fuel in their houses 


Admin for testingPermalink Reply by Hugh 13 hours ago

What age were you when you moved on, John? And, have you seen the photos of Clarendon Road just posted by someone who was one of the first tenants in Dylan Thomas House?

Permalink Reply by John Grover 12 hours ago

I moved from Clarendon Road in 1968 , emigrated to Canada ,no i have not seen the latest photos 

RSS

Advertising

© 2026   Created by Hugh.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service