The Gas Works were constructed on Fore Street in 1842 and the Exmouth Gas, Coke and Water Company (Limited) was formed in 1844 and became the Exmouth Gas and Coke Company in 1865. By 1880 it was carbonising 1000 tons of coal a year and in 1900 produced around 40 million cubic feet of gas.
To meet demand a new gas holder was erected in 1910 with a capacity of 300,000 cubic feet. This was eventually insufficient, so in 1931 another gas holder with a capacity of 750,000 cubic feet was built on a new site in the grounds of what was formerly Llandovery on Albion Hill. This gas holder was demolished in October 2010.
The output of gas in 1950 was approximately 240 million cubic feet which would have required some 13,000 tons of coal to be carbonised.
The Gas Company was nationalised in 1949.
Today little evidence remains of the gas industry in Exmouth. The gas holders have been removed, though the Albion Hill site remains fenced off and unused. The original town centre site has largely been taken over by Jewsons.
