page_title: Launceston Gasworks
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Launceston Gasworks / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Launceston Gas Works from the North Esk
context_page_description: The Launceston Gasworks is a former industrial site located in the CBD of Launceston, Tasmania. The site was the principal supplier of gas to the City of Launceston before the importation of LPG in the 1970s. The gasworks produced gas by heating coal and siphoning off the gas that it released before refining and storing it on site in a set of 3, steel frame gasometers. The first buildings on site were the horizontal retort buildings built in 1860 from sandstone and local brick. The site was later used by Origin Energy as their Launceston LPG outlet. The site is instantly recognizable by its 1930s, steel braced, vertical retort building with the words "COOK WITH GAS" in the brickwork.
context_section_description: Starting in 1826, Launceston was lit with lamps running on sperm whale oil. These lamps were unpopular and local butchers soon replaced these with "slush" lamps that burned animal fat. These lamps were still disliked by many so in 1844 a local man, Doctor William Russ Pugh (a statue of him is located in Launceston's Prince's Square), produced his own coal gas for his house and a year later Benjamin Hyrons lit the Angel Inn with methane gas. As early as 1854, the Examiner newspaper urged locals to consider the creation of a gasworks in Launceston pointing out the numerous benefits and cheaper costs of coal gas as a means of lighting. In 1856 the Launceston City Council engaged Scottish-born engineer, William Falconer of the Hobart Gas Company, to prepare plans for the proposed gasworks.
  At a public meeting at the Cornwall Hotel on the 18 May 1858, the Launceston Gas Company was formed. The company purchased a marshy paddock near Cimitier Street the same year due to its proximity to the North Esk River in order to build the new gasworks. Machinery from England and suitable builders were assembled in 1859 with the Horizontal Retort Buildings completed in early 1860. On the 5 April 1860, Launceston turned on its new gas street lighting for the first time and oil lamps were replaced by gas.
  The main source of gas was Newcastle Coal from New South Wales. The gas was extracted by heating the coal until gas was produced. The site of the gasworks was also directly opposite the TMLR rail yards on Willis Street which was also convenient for the delivery of coal. The demand for coal gas continued to grow even after the Duck Reach Power Station was commissioned in 1896. In 1932, the Vertical Retort House was added to the site to increase productivity. The site was expanded to the west in the mid 1900s which involved the removal of Wescombe Street and the historic cottages that lined it in order to make a 3rd gasometer and later an LPG cylinder yard when the site was taken over by Boral and eventually Origin Energy. In 2007 the site was sold and the 3 gasometers were largely dismantled. The cylinder yard has now been built over by the new Centrelink building and car park with additional developments planned to take place in the future.
caption: The gasworks from across the North Esk before the construction of the levee system
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