This feature first appeared in October 2024 on Londonist: Time Machine, our much-praised history newsletter. To be the first to read new history features like this, sign up for free here.
Recently, the UK switched off its last coal-fired power station. From now on, no mains electricity will be generated in this country from the burning of coal. It’s a big step in the drive towards green energy.
We’ve been generating electricity from coal for over 140 years. The very first coal-fired plant in the world opened right here in London in 1882, when Thomas Edison lit up Holborn Viaduct from a nearby coal generator.
But we can chip a little deeper into the coalface. Given that not a gram of coal was ever mined from the bowels of London, it is surprising just how important the substance has been to the city’s development. One could almost rewrite London’s history from the perspective of this calorific rock. It has provided warmth and light to generations of Londoners. At the same time, its soot begrimed our buildings and shortened the lives of thousands if not millions of Londoners, who inhaled the irritant particulates. Oh, and that whole climate change thing too, obviously.
Many of our most famous landmarks would not have been possible without coal. Battersea Power Station and Tate Modern (formerly Bankside Power Station) are two obvious examples. But without the tax on coal we might not have seen St Paul’s Cathedral or the Embankment take shape. Coal ended the Great Stink and vanquished cholera, by powering the steam engines that removed sewage and circulated fresh water. It brought us the railways, which reshaped London, and society, like no other technology.
Without coal, there would be no Bert the chimneysweep.
The countless ways in which coal has shaped the capital is a huge topic. It could fill a book. So rather than publish an overly long essay I thought I’d get my hands dirty and put together this sooty graphic.
Follow the billows of smoke to discover the myriad ways in which London was built on coal.
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