The land immediately to the west side of Tate Modern and its new Switch House was occupied by the burgeoning coal gas industry from the early 19th century. The Phoenix Gas Light and Coke Company was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1824. The image depicts a gas lamp against the brickwork of Tate Modern’s Switch House, the site on which stood the company’s first gasometer and retort buildings. The Company served Southwark, Brixton, Deptford and Greenwich with coal gas for street lighting. Following a series of protracted struggles over competition to supply south London, the Phoenix Gas Light & Coke Company was eventually amalgamated with the South Metropolitan Gas Light and Coke Company in 1876.
