tarboat's photos with the keyword: fakenham

The station gas meter at the Fakenham Gadsworks. This was manufactured in 1929 by the Gas Meter Co. of Wigan and was used to record the amount of gas produced compared with the amount of coal consumed by the retorts. After measurement the gas passed to the gasholder.

The Fakenham Gasworks Museum is a real gem and highly recommended to anyone interested in industrial history. At one time the works employed 8 men and supplied 500 homes.It closed in 1965 but was preserved and made into a museum in 1987. It is the only complete surviving gasworks in England. This is the retort house which dates from 1907 - 1910 with 14 retorts grouped around two furnaces. The ascension pipes can be seen rising from the retorts to feed the gas and by-products into the hydraulic main above. The hydraulic main was essential to stop gas feeding back when the retorts were opened for recharging.