Gasometers: Cyril E. Power

Gasometers, also called gas holders, were large tanks for storing coal gas and maintaining pressure in distribution lines. In Great Britain, gas holders were common features of the industrial landscape before natural gas became the primary source of fuel for powering streetlights and heating homes. They were often constructed at the sites of gasworks, which manufactured coal gas by carbonizing coal. Although many gas holders are still standing, most are no longer in use. Some gas holders were enclosed in steel cages called guide frames, as seen inGasometers, amonotype print by the British architect and printmaker Cyril E. Power (1872-1951). In this image, the gas holder is the red cylinder in the lower right corner. Gas holders were designed so that the upperpart of the tanknested in the lowerpart andexpandedvertically to accommodate increases in pressure. The height of theguide frames in thispicture indicates themaximumheight of expansion. Power, whose first career was architecture