Aylestone Road Gas Works and Gas Museum

Leicester’s Demand for Gas

Gas was made from coal and first produced in Leicester at Belgrave Gas Works in 1821. Within 50 years, a bigger gas works was needed for the growing population. In 1875 the Leicester Gas Company bought a new site, ideally placed between the railway and the canal. In 1878 the Company was taken over by the Leicester Corporation who ran it for the next 70 years. On 3rd December 1879, gas from the new Aylestone Road Gas Works was turned on.

Aylestone Road Gas Works

The Gas Works had a large clocktower with a weathervane on top. Local people would have seen the clock, illuminated by gas, at night. The Works included many offices, stores and ‘retort’ houses where the coal was heated to make the gas. Production was increased many times over the years to keep up with Leicester’s
growing population. By 1908, 629 men were employed at the Gas Works and a stoker was paid 5 shillings and 5 pence each day.

The Clock tower can be seen in the bottom right; Historic England

The John Doran Museum

Gas production at Aylestone Road stopped in May 1969, as supply was switching from town gas to natural gas. In the 1970s engineers started to collect the old gas equipment and in 1977 a museum was opened in the building under the clocktower. It was called the John Doran Museum after the Chairman of the East Midlands Gas Board. In 1997 it became the National Gas Museum and shows how gas was produced and how gas was used in the home. Objects in the museum include; gas lighting, heaters, water heaters, cookers and a gas radio.