The Alford gas works was established in this site off Hanby Lane in 1842, after an earlier attempt to obtain a site elsewhere in the town had failed. Ownership of the works passed between several persons and companies until the Alford Gas, Coal and Coke Company took possession of the site and was incorporated in 1875. Demand for the gas rose after the works had been established, with several phases of expansion being recorded at the site over the second half of the 19th century. Four miles of gas pipeline had been laid by 1883 to supply the nearby users. The works were nationalised in 1949, becoming part of the East Midlands Gas Board. Production at the site is recorded to have stopped at some point in 1956 or 1957, and most of the former buildings have since been demolished. {1}{2}{3}