Around 1850 gas lighting generally began to replace oil lamps in the towns, but the country areas where it was not available, oil or paraffin lamps would remain for some years. Even with this new innovation, for the next twenty years daylight would still be considered to provide the best playing conditions. Private billiard rooms were recommended to be illuminated by means of a skylight to avoid shadows being cast by side lighting from windows".
By this time cloth being produced was much finer, allowing the ball to take a truer course and travel more quickly. West of England cloth was generally regarded as the best.
Spots at this time were made from small circular pieces of black plaster which were firmly affixed to the cloth. These could cause the ball to jump and were not used for professional matches where the position of the spots were marked with chalk.