This unloved 19th century chimney was Edinburgh's tallest ever structure

Giant gas works lum dwarfed monuments of Calton Hill

Famously dubbed “Auld Reekie”, there was no shortage of chimney stacks in Victorian Edinburgh, but there was one that towered high above the rest.

The great lum of the former New Street gas works is thought to have been the tallest freestanding structure to have ever scraped the Capital’s skyline.

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Built in 1845 by Sir James Gowans, the huge chimney stalk rose to a dizzying 329 feet, approaching double the height of the Scott Monument, and even dwarfed the top of the Nelson Monument on nearby Calton Hill.

The New Street gas works chimney (pictured left of centre) dwarfed the surrounding buildings in central Edinburgh.The New Street gas works chimney (pictured left of centre) dwarfed the surrounding buildings in central Edinburgh.
The New Street gas works chimney (pictured left of centre) dwarfed the surrounding buildings in central Edinburgh.

In chimney terms, it was big enough to have made the late Fred Dibnah consider a new career, and taller than any of the brick-built, industrial lums of England the legendary steeplejack worked on.

Visible for miles around, the New Street stalk was one of the tallest in the British Empire and only surpassed in height and diameter by a select few, including two veritable giants on the west coast of Scotland: the Tennant’s stalk at St Rollox works (436ft), and the Townsend chimney at Port Dundas (454ft).

Opened in 1818, the New Street gas works occupied a large segment of the Old Town, between the Canongate and what is today Calton Road.

The site continued to expand during the 19th century, as the demand and availability of gas power for lighting grew, and was populated with numerous gas holders, coal sheds and a gasometer before the erection of its main chimney.

An engraving dated 1847 showing the Old Royal High School and the New Street gas works chimney.An engraving dated 1847 showing the Old Royal High School and the New Street gas works chimney.
An engraving dated 1847 showing the Old Royal High School and the New Street gas works chimney.

Due to its location, in the heart of Edinburgh’s densely-populated Canongate district, the chimney’s astonishing size was born out of necessity, so that residents could escape the worst of the thick smoke plumes that would routinely billow from the great stack.

But, for most people living under its huge shadow, size definitely wasn’t everything. Right from the outset, the chimney was criticised for its part in spoiling views in central Edinburgh.

Criticism

In a letter to The Scotsman editor in 1846, one incensed local spoke of their disgust at the 100-metre-tall chimney, and how it would blight the landscape around the then newly-built Scott Monument.

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They wrote: “In my opinion, one of the most striking circumstances observable in beholding Edinburgh from any point of view, is the almost total absence of long chimneys, and certainly the effect is greatly heightened by that circumstance.”

The author went on to argue that the plain design of the chimney should at least be modified, to make it more ornate, adding cornices or top it off with an elaborate capital.

“Fancy a tall, dingy-looking chimney with a top like the one at St Rollox, Glasgow, thrusting up its ugly head immediately behind the finest view of the Scott Monument,” they added.

Removal

Suffice to say, the writer did not get what they hoped for, and a plain chimney is what would occupy the space for another two generations.

A Musselburgh News article dated 22 July 1898 records that the chimney was finally being toppled, with refuse material from its slow demolition used in the concrete for the building of the new gas works at Granton.

New Street’s chimney was replaced by a smaller lum - that didn’t attract much love from locals either.

In 1907, during their 30th annual meeting, local heritage body the Cockburn Association suggested the sooner the “frightful blot on one of the finest views of the city” was “decently laid in the grave” the better.

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