Following negotiations with the 6th Duke of Buccleuch, a 106 ¼ acre site at Granton was purchased at a cost of £124,000.00 for the purpose of building a Gas Works.
At the time, the site was not in either Edinburgh or Leith. Subsequent expansion of the city boundaries brought it into Edinburgh in 1900.
When Edinburgh and Leith amalgamated in 1920 the gas undertaking passed to Edinburgh Corporation.
Granton Gas Works, designed by Chief Engineer and Manager, Dutchman Walter Ralph Herring, began production of coal gas in 1902 and had its own branch line and an elegant station.
Granton Gas Works station was completed between 1898-1904, with later 20th century alterations, and had a category B Listing.
The formal opening of the station took place on 27 February, 1903.
It was built in plain Edwardian classical design with Baroque pediment out of red brick with contrasting yellow brick and ashlar sandstone dressings.
It had bays divided on all sides by giant yellow brick pilasters with fluted ashlar capitals and slightly projecting red brick pedestals with ashlar coping: red brick entablature above with ashlar architrave and eaves cornice.
Yellow brick basket arches adorned the ground floor windows with stone sills throughout.
The interior contained a wide flight of stone steps leading down to ground floor from a slightly higher entrance. A narrower curved stone staircase to the upper level adjoined to the north of the original entrance- formerly the route taken by workers at the gasworks between the train that transported them to the station and the site itself.
The station building also contained the time office, washrooms and lockers.
A footbridge over the railway lines led to the Gas Works itself.
The station was primarily intended to handle workpeople’s services to and from Granton Gas Work and was for the sole use of the employees as there were no other transport links to the Gas Works at this time.
The Gas Works also had a network of standard gauge and narrow-gauge
lines and its own locomotives.
By 1926, Granton Gas Works was consuming 200,000 tonnes of coal a year.
In the days before efficient road transport, good rail access was essential for providing the supply of coal needed.
A factor in favour of choosing Granton as a site for the Gas Works was access to both the North British Railway and its rival, the Caledonian Railway, in respect of coal supplies.
In addition, the Gas Works were close to the sea so coal supplies could also be brought by ship to Granton Harbour in the event of a strike on the railways.
Although Granton Gas Works Station did not appear in the published timetables local residents apparently did make use of the trains.
The line into the station was operated by the Caledonian Railway and began at the CR’s Princes Street station (the ‘Caley’). The Gas Works station was closed by the London Midland Scottish Railway in 1942 as transport links improved following the building of houses in the surrounding area.
The site of the old Gas Works is now occupied by Edinburgh College and a supermarket.
The line to the Granton Gas Works branched off the CR’s Granton branch which opened in 1861.
The station building which has a Category B Listing has been redeveloped by Edinburgh Council at a cost of 4.75 million pounds. The building is managed by WASPS (Workshops & Artists Studio Provisions Scotland Ltd).
The redevelopment of the station will provide office and flexible work spaces for the creative, charity and social enterprise sectors.
The new development is being called Granton Station Creative Works, notwithstanding the original Granton Station (ex-NBR) was on the Middle Pier at Granton and was closed along with Trinity Station in 1925 by the LNER.
However, whatever the name, rightly or wrongly, the refurbished station is given, it’s wonderful to see it being brought back to life and being put to good use.
New flats are currently being built on the land behind the station.
The journey time, according, to a 1907 working timetable, was twelve minutes from Princes Street station (the ‘Caley’) to Granton Gas Works.
Granton Gas Works station and Granton Goods shed are the last remnants of the Caledonian Railway's 1861 line to Granton.
To see pictures of Granton Gas Works please visit my Flickr site under the album Edinburgh, Granton and Leith Railways.