There was great excitement at the Abbey Church in the autumn of 1841 when “Let there be light: and there was light” became an appropriate biblical text (Genesis 1:3) to celebrate the installation of gas lighting, the first building in Bourne to take advantage of the new system.

The work was mainly due to the enthusiasm of the Rev Joseph Dodsworth (1797-1877) who ministered to this parish for over fifty years as curate and later vicar and who took a deep interest in the many modern ideas then being developed for community benefit.

The Bourne Gas Light and Coke Company had just been formed and Dodsworth immediately saw the advantages for the town, becoming one of the company’s original investors after buying £10 worth of shares which were issued to those who wanted a financial stake in the venture and because of his social standing he was also appointed one of the five trustees.

The gasworks were erected at a cost of £2,000 and as one of the churchwardens, Henry Bott, landlord of the Angel Hotel, was also a trustee, lighting the church as the first project for the town had solid support within the company. The work was completed in the autumn of 1841 and a special sermon was preached to mark the occasion on Sunday 31st October when a collection was held to help defray the cost of installation.

It was a source of wonder to the congregation when the gas lighting was switched on for the first time. After the service, the churchwardens dismantled all thirty of the old brass pulpit and wall sconces or candle holders which had previously been used for illumination from around the church and put them up for sale, a sign that the new gas lighting was here to stay while the event was of sufficient significance to merit an entry in the parish registers.

The first commercial gas works had been built by the London and Westminster Gas Light and Coke Company in 1812 followed by other towns and cities, the Bourne company being formed in 1840 with premises at the top end of East gate and after the Abbey Church came street lighting with the erection of cast iron lamp standards along the pavements. Gas was cheaper than oil lamps or candles and this factor helped accelerate its popularity while the brighter light it produced also enabled people read more easily.

Demand was so great by 1868 that it was necessary to enlarge the gasworks premises in what had become known as Gas House Yard and further extensions to the installations were carried out ten years later when larger mains were laid as far as the market place. By this time, coal gas was being used for heating and lighting in homes, shops and business premises, as well as for the street lighting which by then consisted of 56 incandescent gas lamps at various points around the town.

In February 1898, the parish council which was responsible for maintaining the street lighting at that time, asked the gas company to ensure that the lamps were lit on every dark evening and were left on all night on Saturdays and Sundays.

The introduction of gas and pre-payment meters in the late 1880s played an important role in marketing town gas to domestic and commercial consumers and by the turn of the century the supply had become an essential part of everyday life. Central to the system was the gasometer, a massive metal telescopic holder used to contain the domestic supply ready for distribution. Three were eventually erected to serve the town, each bigger than before, the last with a capacity of 40,000 cubic feet being installed in 1908 by Messrs R and J Dempster of Newton Heath, Manchester, a firm that had been called in as consultants for public gas undertakings in many parts of the world.

But gas could be dangerous and explosions were not unknown, similar to that which occurred on the evening of Friday 21st October 1898 at Thomas Carlton's drapery shop in North Street. There had been a small leakage of gas which seeped into a drain through a grating at the roadside and a match thrown down by a passer-by caused an explosion but damage was not extensive and the leak was located and repaired.

The Bourne Gas Light and Coke Company continued trading until 31st March 1914 when the business was sold to Bourne Urban District Council for £14,000. The manager was retained in his post at a salary of £2 a week with £1 per quarter extra for taking meter readings and a house, coal and gas supplied free of charge. His wife was also to receive two shillings a week to attend to customers at the gas showrooms in Eastgate and to keep the premises clean.

The gasworks were enlarged in 1927 to meet further increased demand and in 1934 the service was extended to Dyke when a mains pipe was laid from Bourne and the streets lighted with gas lamps for the first time. This prosperity continued for another twenty years but re-organisation within the gas supply industry brought about their closure in 1957.

The buildings in Gas House Yard were demolished in January 1960 and the following April, new workshops for the construction of the BRM racing cars were built on the site by the company run by the motor racing pioneer Raymond Mays although the huge gasometer remained in use on the opposite side of the road for several years.

By 1965, Bourne's supply was being piped in from North Killingholme on Humberside and there were 1,400 consumers in the town at that time with the demand rising steadily but in 1973 responsibility for gas distribution passed from the council to the East Midlands Gas Board and then to British Gas.

Today, the gasometer has gone from Bourne and our supply no longer comes from coal but from other sources such as the North Sea and Europe and is piped into the town from various distribution depots but the popularity of gas as a domestic fuel remains undiminished.