Museum of Science and Industry

Today many of us heat our homes and cook our food using gas. Back in the eighteenth century, gas was first widely used for lighting. This type of gas was known as town gas. It was produced by baking coal in large ovens called retort houses.

Scottish engineer William Murdoch was one of the key gas pioneers. He was Boulton & Watt's works manager, but also experimented with gas production and lighting in his own time. In 1805 Boulton & Watt installed the lighting system for the first gas-lit mill, Phillips & Lee's mill in Salford.

We now use natural gas. It was first imported into Britain from the Gulf of Mexico in 1959, then discovered under the North Sea in 1965. Gas is piped ashore through large pipes, which are checked for cracks by travelling devices known as 'intelligent pigs'. As North Sea supplies decline, we are importing more gas from countries such as Norway.