The Hanmer Springs Gasometer,
Posted by: 
greysman
S 42° 31.357 E 172° 49.724
59G E 650207 N 5290574
This gasometer was commisioned in 1898 and supplied gas to the sanitorium. It was decommisioned in 1940 when the town was connected to the national grid.
Waymark Code: WMB2BM
Location: South Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 03/26/2011
Views: 13
This is a transcription of the information board next to the old gasometer.
The Hanmer Springs Gasometer 1898 - 1940
Hanmer Springs was one of the first towns in New Zealand to use natural gas
for lighting and cooking.
Our sanitorium, built by the government in 1897, initially used a small bore
supply but switched to the gas stored in the Gasometer when that was
completed a year later.
The Gasometer was fed by gas from Hanmer Springs' main bore. This was
then reticulated fuelling the gas lamps around the five-acre public reserve
and village green. It also provided cooking and lighting for the caretaker's
cottage, in addition to the sanitorium.
When the Garden House Tea Rooms Photograph of
opened in 1902, the Gasometer met The Queen Mary Hospital
its needs too, and supplied Queen with the active
May Hospital from 1916. (The hospital gasometer.
replaced the sanitorium, which was
destroyed by fire.)
The Gasometer remained a vital part
of the town right up until 1940 when
Hanmer Springs finally connected to
national grid, ending an era.
The photograph of the Queen Mary Hospital is from the air.
Early gasometers were usually built as a Dry Seal Wiggins Type, a full description can be found here: Wiggins
A diagram of the operation of the gasometer on the info. board shows that gas pressure was maintained by balancing the top portion of the tank using weights attached to four chains leading over pulleys on cast iron posts fixed to the base portion. The gas pressure was equal to the difference in the weights attached and the weight of the top portion of the tank. The storage volume could be adjusted by raising or lowering the top portion. The top portion of the tank is now permanently lowered to its lowest position.