The Bonnington Chemical Works was a pioneer coal tar processing plant established in Edinburgh.
George Dixon Longstaff recorded that the chemical works began in 1822 for the purpose of distilling coal tar to separate naphtha.
[3] Longstaff was at that time assistant to Dr John Wilson Anderson, who taught practical chemistry at the University of Edinburgh.
[5] Macintosh remained a special customer until at least the late 1830s, and probably well beyond, receiving a significant discount on his large naphtha orders.
The large scale of processing precipitated the construction of a pipeline to pump the gasworks residues directly from Edinburgh to Bonnington over Calton Hill.