DescriptionIn 1851 John Richards ('Gas Fitter' of Pembroke Dock) took a lease of land on which to build a gas works. He paid £4 per annum for a 60-year lease from Edward Laws and Edward Mathias, starting 29/9/1851. This however differs from the following article which appear in The Welshman on the 25th of March 1853, which reads “PEMBROKE GAS WORKS. - A special meeting of the Town Council was held on Saturday, the 19th inst., when a lease of land was granted to Mr. Richards for the purpose of erecting works for lighting the town”. The affairs of the gasworks were not always good. “PEMBROKE GAS. - For some time past the tradesmen and inhabitants of the town have been complaining loudly, and not without cause, of the inefficient supply, and inferior quality of the gas, and on Saturday night many of the shops and inns were under the necessity of having recourse to candles, to the great inconvenience of themselves and customers, while the streets were in total darkness on the darkest of nights.” (Potter's Electric News 28th September 1859). A gas bill put forward by the County & General Gas Consumers Co. Ltd included Pembroke, amongst other towns such as Chertsey and Lea Bridge where they intended to operate gasworks (The Pembrokeshire Herald and General Advertiser 21st November 1862). On 1st October 1867 the County & General leased the business to George Wilson Stevenson of 14, Park Street, Westminster for £200 per annum. The lease could be determined by either side at one, seven or fourteen years. Stevenson agreed to lay a 6" main from the works at Pater (a former name for Pembroke Dock) to Pembroke Town. The County & General Gas Consumers Co. Ltd were declared bankrupt in 1869. The Pembroke Docks and Town Gas Provision order was made in 1870, to create the Pembroke Docks and Town Gas Company (Limited) and acquire the gasworks and other plant and equipment of the County and General Gas Consumers' Company (Limited), this included the Pater (Pembroke Dock) gasworks (The Western Mail 30th November 1870), this did not include any gasworks in Pembroke Town.
The Pembroke Dock & Town Gas Co. Ltd. was formed in 1870 with a capital was then £ 10,000. A Provision Order of 1871 gave it its limit of supply. The limit of supply was the Parliamentary borough of Pembroke, on both sides of Milford Haven. This included Neyland which they supplied c1900 after agreement with the GWR for a supply of gas from their works, the Neyland Urban District Council purchased the mains of the Pembroke Dock & Town Gas Co. Ltd c1907. In 1871 George Wilson Stevenson was the manager of the Pembroke Dock and Pembroke Gas Works (The Western Mail 17th February 1871). In 1891 Jas. H. Silcox was the manager, G. W. Cobb the secretary of the gas company which were producing 21m cu.ft. of gas from 2450 tons of coal. In 1912 the Pembroke Docks and Town Gas Co. Ltd invited tenders for about 5,500 tons of coal delivered at the Gas-Works Siding, Pembroke Dock, whether Rail or Sea-Borne. (Gas Journal 14/5/1912). In 1915 the company had capital £24,500 and loans of £8,400. 6,385 tons of coal were carbonised to make 74.764 million cu.ft. of 14.5cp gas (14 prescribed). Customers had 701 ordinary meters and 1,576 slots and 1,709 stoves were in use, they are supplied 330 public lamps, all incandescent. 22 tons of ammonium sulphate were made, and the gasholders had a capacity of 56,000 cu.ft. and 300,000 cu.ft.. G. Wheatley Cobb was Chairman. W. B. Mimmack the Engineer & Manager and A. C. Carne Ross the Secretary, at 4a, Lion Street, Brecon. In December 1924, Six Glover West continuous vertical retorts were put to work. They were 'Type C', capacity 300,000 cu.ft./day. Vested in the Wales Gas Board from the Pembroke District Gas Company. In 1952 the “Gas World Year Book”, showed that Pembroke was manufacturing 134 m cu.ft. of gas and D.W. Rees was the engineer and manager. The Pembroke Dock gasworks closed in 1957, when gas was then supplied through an extension of the South Wales Gas Grid. The gasworks were visible on the 1862 to 1974 OS maps.
