:Provan Gas Works

{{Short description|Gas storage and distribution facility in Glasgow, Scotland}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}

{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}

File:Provan Gasworks, Glasgow - geograph.org.uk - 125118.jpg

Provan Gas Works is an industrial gas holding plant in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The plant lies between the Blackhill, Blochairn, Germiston and Provanmill areas of the city, and was built by Glasgow Corporation between 1900 and 1904.{{cite web |url=http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/45018/details/glasgow+provan+road+provan+gasworks/ |title=Provan Gas Works |work=CANMORE |publisher=RCAHMS |accessdate=13 May 2011}} It later became part of British Gas, and subsequently Transco and most recently Scotia Gas Networks (previously a subsidiary of Scottish and Southern Energy) who operate it today.

Originally the plant was a gasworks, manufacturing town gas via the cooking of coal. The plant was expanded after 1919. Following nationalisation of the gas supply in 1948, the plant passed to the Scottish Gas Board, and then to British Gas in 1973. In 1972, supplies of inexpensive natural gas from North Sea oilfields became available. The gasworks was downsized significantly in the 1980s in response to changing economic conditions arising as the British gas industry was privatised under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Today the plant is largely unmanned, used solely for gas storage and distribution.

The plant has become significant for its two massive column-guided gasometers and an additional spiral-guided gasometer, which have become an iconic industrial landmark in Glasgow's East End. Among the largest of their kind in the UK, each of the towers can hold {{convert|283000|m3|-3|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} of gas,{{cite web |url=http://www.thegreenwichphantom.co.uk/local-images/gasholder.pdf |title=Gaslight: Issue 141 |date=December 2007 |publisher=North West Gas Historical Society |page=4}} and is {{convert|85.4|m}} in diameter. Their combined storage capacity is {{convert|566000|m3|-3|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} – each enough to supply a city the size of York for an entire day.

Since the construction of the M8 and M80 motorways in the 1970s and 1980s, which run directly next to the plant, the twin gasholders have become an unofficial portal into the city's central area for drivers from Edinburgh and the north. The towers have also gained an affectionate following among locals since they are often used to display huge placards showcasing the various promotional slogans for the city, the most memorable being the "Glasgow's Miles Better" and "Everyone's Glasgowing On" campaigns.

The future of the plant is under discussion: Glasgow City Council have proposed plans for decontaminating the unused land on the brownfield site and redeveloping it for commercial use. In 2012, Scotia Gas Networks announced that the twin column-guided and single spiral-guided gasometers were to be decommissioned, with no decision made on their future.{{Cite web |url=https://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/13243570.What_now_for_city_s_Provan_gas_towers_/|title=What now for city's Provan gas towers?|author=Rebecca Gray|work=Evening Times|date=21 November 2012 |accessdate=4 November 2018}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/15585404.amp/|title=Glasgow's skyline could be changing as future of historic Provan gasworks up for debate|author=Hannah Rodger|work=Evening Times|date=10 October 2017 |accessdate=4 November 2018}} The twin column-guided gasholders were protected as Category B listed structures in 2018 by Historic Environment Scotland (with associated buildings on the site listed at Category C), a decision which the owners disputed due to the high maintenance costs involved, particularly when no longer being used for their originally designed purpose.{{Cite web |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/16077276.row-over-protected-status-for-provan-gas-works/|title=Row over protected status for Provan Gas Works|work=The Herald|date=10 March 2018|accessdate=23 May 2020}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/row-over-historic-protection-for-eyesore-gasworks-1-4742730|title=Row over historic protection for "eyesore" gasworks|author=Alison Campsie|work=The Scotsman|date=21 May 2018|accessdate=4 November 2018}} However, the listed status (along with a pair of similar structures located in the city's Temple / Kelvindale area) was upheld after appeal, supported by local MP Paul Sweeney, who called for the creative reuse of the structures, citing other examples from around the UK such as Granton Gasworks in Edinburgh,{{Cite web |date=2025-04-04 |title=Public park brings new life to iconic gasholder site |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgnpn8vx79o |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}} and internationally such as Gasometer Vienna, Gasometer Oberhausen, Østre Gasværk Teater and Newstead Gasworks.{{Cite web |url=https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/listed-status-secured-glasgows-two-15137887.amp|title=Listed status secured for Glasgow's two iconic gasworks|work=Glasgow Live|date=11 September 2018|accessdate=23 May 2020}}{{cite news | url= https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/16141569.provan-gas-holders-need-creative-solution-future/| publisher=The Evening Times | title= Provan gas holders need a creative solution for their future| date= 6 April 2018| accessdate=2 January 2021}}

In 2020, the Scottish Prison Service announced that it intended to buy {{convert|22|ha}} of land adjacent to the gas works to build a replacement for HM Prison Barlinnie.{{Cite web |url=https://www.scottishconstructionnow.com/article/provan-gas-works-site-to-host-100m-barlinnie-prison-replacement|title=Provan gas works site to host £100m Barlinnie Prison replacement|work=Scottish Construction Now|date=11 February 2019|accessdate=23 May 2020}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-51048940|title=Site purchased to replace Glasgow's Barlinnie prison|work=BBC News Online|date=9 January 2020|accessdate=9 January 2020}}

Demolition of the unlisted spiral-guided gasometer began in 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rglservices.co.uk/precision-water-jet-cutting-provides-fast-and-safe-access-to-gasometers/|title=Test entry - RGL}}