Ryde Social Heritage Group research the social history of the citizens of Ryde, Isle of Wight. Documenting their lives, businesses and burial transcriptions.
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Ryde Architecture

Date & Crest of the Ryde Gas Co.

The old Gas Works (Park Road – off Monkton Street)

The photograph on the right is of the window surround which shows the date and crest of the Ryde Gas Company.

The photograph on the left shows the range of the building left standing.

Images source: Roy Brinton Collection RSHG Archive

  • 1871 A proposal that the Ryde Gas Works should become the property of the Borough proved to be a very controversial subject and the cause of much litigation between the Council and the then Ryde Gaslight Company.  In July 1871, arbitrators were appointed to determine the price to be paid by the Corporation.
  • 1872 In February an application was made to borrow £61,243 for the purchase of the Gas Works.  From this point, negotiations appear to have broken down, and relations between the Council and the Company became very strained and the Company served a Writ on the Corporation.  There was a body of opinion in the Borough opposed to the purchase, and this resulted in some hard feelings in the Council Chamber.  On the 5th November 1872, the Minutes show that 10 Councillors and five Aldermen tendered their resignations “with reference to the intention of the Council to repudiate the Contract for the purchase of the Ryde Gas Works “.