NHER 55529 (Monument) - Site of Wymondham Gas Light & Coke Works

The Wymondham Gas Light & Coke Works Company was formed in 1845. This was around the same time as the railway was built here, enabling the delivery of core resources, namely coal. Due to the small size of the works, it would not have employed more that 10 people at once, each performing a manual task. The plant heated coal to produce coal gas for lighting. The by-products, tar and coke were sold. The plant supplied gas to lights in public streets, private houses and, to those wealthy enough, for gas cooking. The Company was plagued by debt due to the malpractice of their secretary and as a result failed to expand to consumer demand and could not afford to maintain their plant. They were also forced to make continual reductions to their charges to compete with electric lighting and eventually the plant was made redundant by a gas mainline from Norwich in 1939. The buildings and gas containers were finally demolished in 1980.
See (S1).
W. Arnold (HES), 17 May 2011.