Former Gasworks Walton Avenue, Felixstowe Phases 1 and 2 Historic Building Investigation and Recording

Oxford Archaeology was commissioned by Montagu Evans LLP on behalf of National
Grid to create an Historic Building Record of Gasholder 124 and its ancillary buildings
at the former gasworks on Walton Road to the south-west of Felixstowe town centre.
Production of gas was switched to Ipswich and the gasworks closed in 1931, although
the gasholders were retained for storage. Gasholder 124, an above-ground spiralguided
gasholder with three lifts and a welded tank, was constructed in 1966 on the
footprint of a 19th-century gasholder and by the mid to late 1970s was the only
gasholder remaining on the site.
Improvements in distribution plant in recent years has caused the gasholder to
become redundant and it was isolated from the mains and decommissioned some
time prior to this survey.
The historic building recording focussed upon researching the history of the site and
photographing the gasholder and its context before and during the dismantling. Phase
1 of the project comprised the recording of the gasholder and associated structures in
their context prior to work on site and Phase 2 comprised the recording of the
gasholder during its demolition.
The wider programme of recording work of the remaining gasholders across the
country will allow a comparison of the structures between sites.