Description1836 Neath Abbey Ironworks supplied gas plant to the Brecon Gas Company. Plans and drawings with the West Glamorgan Archive Service (ref GB 216 DD NAI/2/9/hub). The Brecon New Gas Company, a joint stock company was Proposed at a meeting in December 1855. formed in 1856/57. At their 1st annual general meeting, there were present, J. N. Cobb, Esq.; Henry De Winton, Esq. Mr. Wm. Matthews, draper; Mr. Bright, chemist; Mr. Mordecai Jones, coal agent; Mr. Thomas Evans, auctioneer; Mr. Cansick, wine merchant; Mr. Davies, jeweller; Mr. Parfitt; Mr. Evans Watton Mr. Webb, jeweller, Mr. Kirk; Mr. Teale; Mr. William Thomas, Llanfaes; Mr. Cummins; Mr. Williams, Castle-street; Mr. Williams, iron founder; Mr. Davis, Angel Inn; Mr. Roberts; Mr. Walter Price; Mr. Fryer. Mr Davis was voted the Chairman. The 1870 Brecon Gas Act allowed the purchase of the Brecon Gas Company's works and undertaking, but these powers were never used to affect such a purchase. In 1883 the Annual gas production 16,114,300 cu.ft. of 15 cp gas (14 cp prescribed) from 1,702 tons of coal. Sales to private consumers 11,316,100 cu.ft., to public lighting 2.9m cu.ft. 422 consumers, 145 public lamps (BoT return). In 1887 Alfred Edward Wright was the manager of the Brecon Gasworks. In 1898 the manager and secretary of the gas company was W. A. Wright, and its annual gas production was 19.4m cu.ft. from 1875 tons of coal. At the monthly meeting of the Brecon Town Council on Tuesday the Mayor (Colonel Morgan) was authorised to/affix the seal of the council to a memorial to the Board of Trade for a Provisional Order for the electric lighting of the town. A letter was read from the solicitors of the Brecon Gas Company giving notice that after the 10th of January next tba gas company would require the council to pay for lighting the public lamps £ 3 7s 6d per lamp per annum. —The letter was referred to the gas committee” (Weekly Mail 16th December 1899). In 1917 it was reported “BRECON GAS COMPANY AND MUNITIONS. Our readers will notice that the Brecon Gas Company are applying for an order establishing a Calorific Power Standard of 500 B T.U. for testing the gas supplied to the town. We understand this has been brought about by a request from the Minister of Munitions that additional bye-products for munitions should be obtained from gas manufacture and that the company intend to erect apparatus forthwith for the purpose. It is proposed that the order shall follow the lines already laid down by the Board of Trade.” This indicated the construction of a Benzol/Toluol plant at the works to extract light oils (The Brecon County Times Neath Gazette and General Advertiser 11th January 1917). In 1952 the “Gas World Year Book”, showed that Brecon was manufacturing 39m cu.ft. of gas using vertical retorts. F. Dupont was the engineer and manager. 1957 A 3.5" steel pipeline was laid from Abergavenny to Brecon, enabling production at Brecon to cease. An automatic recompression plant at Abergavenny fed this line. An Archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Archaeological Perspectives Analysis Consultancy (A.P.A.C. Ltd) in 2007. The gasworks were visible on the 1887 to 1986 OS maps.
