Granton Gasworks

Location type

Works

Name and dates

Granton Gasworks (1902-1987)

Served by the Edinburgh and Leith Gas Commissioners.

Description

This gas works was built for the Edinburgh and Leith Gas Commissioners. It was built west of Granton itself, on the far side of the Granton Branch (Caledonian Railway) and to the south of Caroline Park. This was a large gasworks which took several years to build, from about 1898 to 1908. Much use was made of concrete, the chimney of the Edinburgh Gas Works being demolished and used in the concrete.

The site had an internal railway system. Access to the public network was from Pilton West Junction on the Granton Branch (Caledonian Railway) which was in the south east of the site. Exchange sidings were on the east side of the site and Granton Gasworks [Station] was located in the south eastern corner.

From east to west were four large retort buildings and gasholders were in the north of the site.

There was a secondary railway connection, The Duke's Line, which ran by a series of reverse curves down to the Western Breakwater lines and continued along the south side of Granton Harbour to a triangular junction south of Granton station on the former Edinburgh, Leith and Granton Railway.

Reception sidings and lines within the works were lifted 1973/74 after the cessation of coal traffic. Two new sets of sidings for naphtha were laid out to the east of the former Granton Gasworks [Station]. These sidings survived until line closure in 1986.

The gasworks is closed.

Tags

Gas works

Aliases

Granton Gas Works
06/10/2023


Chronology Dates

01/11/1902Granton Branch (Caledonian Railway)
Granton Gasworks station (private) opened on a short branch by Breakwater Junction.
  /  /1942Granton Branch (Caledonian Railway)
Granton Gasworks station closed.
02/08/1965Granton Branch (Caledonian Railway)
Crew Junction (excluded) to Pilton West Junction (for the Granton Gasworks) (excluded) closed.
  /  /1981Edinburgh, Leith and Granton Railway
Very little traffic to Granton from this date. Granton Shell Siding closed in 1980 and the Texaco Siding in 1981 due to the deteriorating condition of the oil quay on the Western Breakwater. The remaining traffic was infrequent trains of naphtha to Granton Gasworks.
20/01/1986Edinburgh, Leith and Granton Railway
The Granton Gasworks branch closes to freight. The line from Granton to London Road Junction [Edinburgh] and Lochend South Junction becomes disused but remains in place for a while.

News items

11/03/2023It was a grand day for the opening of Granton Station Square [The Edinburgh Reporter]
09/03/2023Edinburgh's newest public square opening marks first major milestone of Granton Waterfront regeneration [EdinburghLive]
13/08/2021Wasps studios will move into the Edwardian building in 2022 as part of the £4.75M project [Edinburgh News]
29/07/2021The Edinburgh gasworks that was never completed and now sits abandoned [Edinburgh Live]
05/03/2021Cost of restoring Granton Station to its former glory will be 'up to 4.75 million' says council [Edinburgh News]

Books

Edinburgh's Transport: The Early Years v. 1