Throughout the nineteenth century gas undertakings were established either as municipal undertakings owned and run by local authorities supplying gas to their residents or by authorised companies which supplied gas over a wider geographical area. Some undertakings amalgamated, generally smaller undertakings were taken over by larger companies. Large gas works were built: in 1867 the Gas Light and Coke Company acquired a large site at East Ham where they built Beckton which became the largest gasworks in the world. By 1900 London was mainly supplied by the three ‘metropolitan gas companies’ these were the Gas Light and Coke Company, the South Metropolitan Company, and the Commercial Company. Three other companies supplied gas to the outer areas of the County of London, namely the Brentford; South Suburban; and the Wandsworth, Wimbledon and Epsom District.