The foundation stone for Newark on Trent Gas Works was laid by William Parker on 23 August 1832, and by the end of the year selected parts of the town were benefitting from supplies of locally manufactured coal gas. The company also accepted a contract from the town council to provide street lighting, replacing feebel oil lamps which had been erected around the town.
As demand for gas grew, the original works on Whitfield Street became unable to cope and in 1883 the company acquired a new site on Barnbygate where it built a greatly enlarged facility. It was at this time that Gas House Lane came into being, retaining the name until 1903 when it was officially renamed Parker Street, in honour of William Parker, who had laid the original foundation stone and had since gone on to become mayor.
To serve the Gas Works, a spur line was constructed from the Great Northern Railway Newark to Bottesford line, which was the northern continuation of the Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway. That line saw very little passenger traffic, with the only station between Newark and Bottesford (at Cotham) closing in 1939. Passenger services occasionally ran on it, but it was mainly goods services, largely made up of coal trains serving Newark Gas Works.
It is unknown when the Gas Works spur was laid, but it is likely to have been straight away to serve the Gas Works as the line it connected to was opened 4 years prior to the Gas Works beginning construction.
At the initial coordinates, you will see the back of the only building remaining from the line. It is the weighbridge office for the coal yard. It is now a garage and gives little clue to it's former usage, unless you see it from the front where typical railway features of the building can be picked out.
It is unclear when the Gas Works closed. However, the coal yard remained well in to the late 70s, still being served by the railway. It has been said by locals that the tracks and sleepers still remain under the former Massey Street level crossing. The Newark to Bottesford track was lifted in 1985, so services by this time, to the coal yard, had ceased.
Today, there is very little evidence of a railway ever running through this part of Newark. However, using satellite imaging, you can still trace the outline of the Gas Works curve along the back of Cross Street. This can be seen by the way the rear gardens of the terraced houses get bigger in an arch shape the closer they get to Beacon Hill Road.
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THE CACHE
Look for the blue service valve marker. The five numbers on it are ABCDE.
The cache can be found at:
N 53 04. E (B-E) E
W 000 48. C D A