Top of Retort Building

The top of the retort building at the Bathurst Gasworks is finished with weathered brick courses and corroding steel cladding, with a walkway running around the structure at high level. The brick has weathered evenly across the upper section, holding its course lines despite the years. Steel access ladders and handrails remain in place along the perimeter. From the walkway the line of sight runs east across the countryside beyond the site: the surrounding Russell Street neighbourhood gives way to the broader landscape of central-west New South Wales. The roof above the retort hall is built up in stages, with vent stacks and gas off-take pipework rising from the upper plate.

The walkway exists because gasworks operations required regular access to the top of the retort chambers. Coal was charged from above, gas was taken off above, and the operators in the retort house needed a way to inspect the upper components of the plant. The Bathurst Gasworks ran coal-carbonisation operations from 1888 to 1979, with the surviving structures dating primarily from the c.1960 rebuild. AGL continued production via LPG reforming until 1987. The retort house has stood disused since. The brickwork has been described as carrying craftsmanship-quality detail typical of the period when industry still made buildings like this on purpose.