Field Archaeology Specialists
The buildings on this site display a more complex developmental history than an initial scrutiny would indicate. Much of the fabric remains difficult to date with any precision, but it is clear that there is more surviving fabric of the York Union Gas Works than was initially thought.
West elevation
In character, the wall is quite unlike any other on the site, in that it much thicker and has an external plinth and an internal batter. Since the stepped plinth takes up a considerable proportion of the present height of the wall, the wall was doubtless originally much higher. Figure 7 (JPEG/DWF) shows the ground floor plan of Buildings A, B, C and D superimposed on the 1850 auction plan of the gasworks. It is evident that the west wall was originally part of the perimeter wall of the gasworks - in close proximity to the most easterly of the gasholders. The security of the gasholders would have been an important concern and the perimeter wall would have been a substantial structure.
North and east elevations
In contrast to the west wall, these walls are not shown on the 1850 plan, and are clearly beyond the eastern boundary of the gasworks. It is difficult to ascertain from OS map evidence when these walls were constructed. The east wall contains several blocked openings, whilst the north wall has none. This suggests that the north wall may have partly enclosed a yard which lay to the south, whilst the east wall may be the one surviving face of a narrow building fronting onto Dundas Street.
The two-storey block
The east wall, at least in its lower portion, would appear to be a survival of the Gas Works structures, having been part of the long eastern perimeter wall which originally lay behind housing fronting onto the west side of Dundas Street. The detailing of the west wall, however, suggests that this is part of a later structure - most probably from the late nineteenth century. Intriguingly, the 1850 auction plan (see Fig. 2) shows a roughly square structure in this position, labelled ‘lime shed’. Its west wall, however, is further west than the present west wall - thus the present two-storey block is almost certainly a later building utilising part of the fabric of the earlier structure.
At ground-floor level, the two-storey block retains much of the internal detailing relating to the works office of Bellerby’s Saw Mill (construction of which began c.1851), including a moulded ceiling cornice, lobby panelling, and tongue and groove work. At first-floor level, the window and double-leaf loading bay doors of the west face may be mid-late Victorian survivals, but probably post-date the internal detailing of the office below. The tongue and groove partition may belong to the later nineteenth or early twentieth century.
The south annex
This single-storey annex is absent from the 1850 auction map (Fig.2). Since the details of the door/window arrangement are the same as those found on the ground floor of the two-storey block, this extension probably relates to the abovementioned refacing activity. Certainly, the internal detailing of the annex (moulded cornice and tongue and groove panelling) is the same as that found on the ground floor of the two-storey block.
The east annex
The single-storey east annex probably dates to the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. It lies beyond the original eastern boundary of the gas works (Fig.2), and indeed, the south wall of this extension is not bonded into the east wall of the two-storey block. Much of the north wall is obscured by render and heavy repainting, so the structural relationship between the annex and two-storey block is concealed. The visible door and fenestration details are certainly of twentieth century date, although these may be replacements.
The structure and function of this building suggest that it post-dates the gas works, and indeed the 1850 plan (Fig.2) gives no indication of the complicated timber framed structure that now exists. The exception to the above is the east elevation - the one wall not of timber - which is represented on the 1850 plan as part of the perimeter wall of the gasworks. Thus, a vertical recess found on the internal face, towards the north end, was probably connected with the gas works, since it appears to be unrelated to the present timber-framed structure.
It seems unlikely that much (if any) of the timber decking and its support structure originate from the saw mill established by William Bellerby in the mid nineteenth century. The structure is of softwood and is open to the elements on its west side, and thus a significant age cannot be expected. Furthermore, the support posts are set in concrete, firmly placing the structure in the twentieth century.
It would appear that at ground level, the north, south and east faces of Building D date from the time of the gas works (Fig.2). The illustration of the gas works site from c.1850 (Plate 2) shows a single structure in the southeast corner of the site, open along its western side, thus demonstrating that, at this level at least, the building was a part of the gas works. The illustration also shows the south face of the building as including three buttresses which run up to eaves level. These three buttresses are still extant, but now terminate at first-floor level. The 1850 auction plan (Fig.2) shows the west (open) side of the building as having six columns running along its length. The two cast iron columns that remain are probably parts of the original structure and may well be in their original positions.
The 1850 illustration (Plate 2) strongly suggests that the first floor of the building post-dates the gas works. There is structural evidence supporting this, in that the brickwork of the east wall is of a different bond at ground-floor level than at first-floor level - the ground floor wall being in English bond and the first-floor wall in an irregular bond.
Most of the infill panelling running along the west wall at ground level is modern in date.
Much of the first floor fabric is of mid/late nineteenth century date, and all of the roof trusses appear to be contemporary with the construction of the first floor. The window openings also appear to be contemporary with the construction of the floor, with the exception of the northernmost window in the west wall, which is set in a partially blocked door. The actual fenestration has been extensively modified, and is now largely modern.
The buildings on this site display a more complex developmental history than was previously thought, including significant remains of the former gas works and saw mill. It appears probable that the entire eastern boundary wall of the gas works survives, now incorporated into the west wall of Building A, the east walls of Buildings C and D, and the east wall of the two-storey portion of Building B. It thus constitutes the largest surviving portion of what was the second gas works to be established in York.
Building D also preserves the ground plan of the 1830s single-storey structure located at the southeast corner of the gas works site, adapted and re-used (extended upwards) sometime after 1850, the new first floor presumably being used as a workshop.
The ground floor of the two-storey core of Building B retains in its interior the only ‘polite’ architectural fabric within the complex. The survival of moulded cornices and lobby partitioning point strongly to this floor having been used as the sawmill office from the mid nineteenth century onwards.
The survival of large portions of the gas works site indicates that extensive deposits associated with this period may exist below ground.
It is interesting to note that at the northwestern corner of the site, map regression has demonstrated the survival of what may have been the Cordwainer’s Hall, in a much-altered form, until the 1930s, when it was removed during large-scale clearance of the area (Fig.8: JPEG/DWF).