The Grade II Bromley-by-Bow gasholders in East London were constructed in 1872.
Grade II-listed, 1872, Clark & Kirkham
The site now occupied by the Bromley-by-Bow gasholders was historically marshland on the River Lea, and was only turned to industrial use in the early nineteenth century when William Congreve built a factory for his Congreve rockets. The gasworks and ancillary structures were commissioned in 1872, when the land was made available for development and the Imperial Gas Light and Coke Company seized upon the opportunity to compete with their revivals, who had opened a new facility at Beckton two years earlier. To store the gas the gasworks produced, a total of nine gasholders were constructed, and seven of these survive, with one removed and another destroyed by an explosion during the London Blitz. The group value of so many Victorian gasholders packed together is unmatched anywhere else in the world, and their design – incorporating detailed ironwork, as well as Doric and Corinthian columns, placed in accordance with the Classical precedent – is considered to be unique. And yet, since the use of the site to store compressed gas came to end in 2010, the site has been allowed to deteriorate to a perilous state, with corrosion raising serious structural concerns.
Status Update / March 2026
A developer secured planning permission to redevelop the gasworks in 2025, after committing to work with the local authority in support of the government’s homebuilding agenda. As well as building 2,150 new homes, Berkeley’s plans involve the repair and restoration of seven gasholders. These structures are intended to anchor the development and inform its design language, with each of the new buildings either sitting within a gasholder or clad in metalwork which evokes its cylindrical form.