Gashouse Lane

It was in 1846 that the Plymouth and Stonehouse Gas-light and Coke Company first occupied the site adjacent to what has become Gashouse Lane in Coxside.

The company had only been formed the year before, as had the neighbouring Devoport Gas and Coke Company and prior to their respective formations the main Gasworks in the Three Towns had been at Millbay. Very much a new industry in those distant times, the earliest plant in the area had been on Meeting House Slip but from 1846 onwards the main site was where the three familiar gasometers (two Victorian, one mid-1930s) still stand.

One only wonders, if this site should be redeveloped, just how long Gashouse Lane would survive, either as a name or indeed a thoroughfare. Narrow and cobbled with high walls on either side it is a real nineteenth century curiosity, just like Shepherds Lane which links the nearby St John's Bridge with Sutton Road.

EH 11 February 1995