British Engineerium
Encyclopedia
The British Engineerium (originally named Goldstone Pumping Station, then Brighton and Hove Engineerium, before taking its present name in 1981) is an engineering and steam power museum in the West Blatchington
area of Hove
, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove, located just north of the Brighton & Hove Greyhound Stadium
. It is housed in a 19th-century High Victorian Gothic
complex of brick buildings which were erected in 1866 as a pumping station for the local water supply company. The Goldstone Pumping Station supplied water to the local area for more than a century before it was converted to its present use.
At its greatest extent, between 1884 and 1952, the complex consisted of two boiler houses with condensing engines
, a chimney, coal cellars, workshop, cooling pond, leat
and underground reservoir
. Situated on top of a naturally fissured chalk hollow, it provided vast quantities of water to the rapidly growing towns of Hove and its larger neighbour, the fashionable seaside resort of Brighton
, for more than a century. As new sources of water were found elsewhere and more modern equipment installed to exploit them, the pumping station's importance declined, and by 1971 the Brighton Water Department had closed it and threatened the complex with demolition. An industrial archaeologist offered to restore the buildings and machinery in return for a lease from the Brighton Water Corporation, and a charitable trust was formed to enable this. Expertise developed by the Engineerium's employees and volunteers was exploited across the world: they founded museums, undertook restoration projects and trained young people in engineering heritage conservation. Another enthusiast subsequently bought the complex, and as of it is closed to the public while more restoration and extension work takes place.
The High Victorian Gothic
buildings are a landmark in Hove, and are a good example of the 19th-century ethos that "utility definitely does not equal dullness" in industrial buildings. Polychrome brickwork, moulded dressings and facings, decorative gables and elaborate windows characterise all the structures – even the 95 feet (29 m) chimney, which stands apart from the main buildings like a campanile
. English Heritage
has listed the complex for its architectural and historical importance, giving its structures five separate listings: the former boiler house and the chimney are both listed at Grade II* – the second-highest designation – and the former coal shed, the cooling pond and leat and the tall flint and brick wall surrounding the site each have the lower Grade II status.
As well as the restored pumping station equipment, the complex has a wide range of exhibits: more than 1,500 were in place less than a year after it opened. These include a 19th-century horse-drawn fire engine, traction engines, veteran motorcycles, Victorian household equipment and old tools. A French-built horizontal steam engine dating from 1859 is the principal exhibit. The Engineerium has always used its exhibits to educate and promote the study of industrial history: it has been called "the world's only centre for the teaching of engineering conservation", and was central to the activities of the English Industrial Heritage Year in 1993. For many years, the larger and indigenous exhibits were fully operational and in steam at weekends.
coast between the South Downs
and the sea, were built on top of a vast aquifer
of chalk. A regular supply of naturally pure water was always available from this natural reservoir, and in the settlements' early days many wells were sunk to exploit it. The rapid growth of Brighton in the 18th and early 19th century, followed by similar expansion in Hove, put pressure on the local authorities to provide more sources and a better supply system, though: wells became increasingly contaminated by sewage from cesspit
s, and some had to be blocked because they were so polluted, reducing the two towns' water supply further. The first local water company—the Brighton, Hove and Preston
Waterworks Company—was founded on 16 June 1834 by means of an Act of Parliament
; it built a waterworks on the road to Lewes
and provided piped water for two hours per day to a few wealthy customers. This facility had two 20-horsepower
beam engines.
By the 1850s, more water was needed for the continually expanding population: the intermittent supply from the Lewes Road waterworks was the only alternative to wells and boreholes. In 1853, a new company was formed with the aim of introducing a large-scale, consistent supply to Brighton, Hove and surrounding villages. The Brighton, Hove and Preston Constant Water Service Company bought its predecessor, the Waterworks Company, in 1854. By the time it was in turn acquired by Brighton Corporation in 1872 (by means of another Act of Parliament), it was pumping 2600000 gallons (11,819,834 l) per day to 18,000 houses in Brighton, Hove and the surrounding villages of Falmer
, Hangleton
, Ovingdean
, Patcham
, Preston and Rottingdean
.
The company employed eminent civil engineer
Thomas Hawksley
to find a suitable site for a new pumping station. Hawksley built more waterworks than any of his Victorian counterparts: he oversaw more than 150 schemes in Britain and abroad. In 1858, he advised the company that the shallow chalk valley at Goldstone Bottom, at the south end of West Blatchington
village just outside Hove, would be a good candidate for exploratory drilling. Test wells were sunk, and confirmed his impression. The company bought the 3.5 acres (1.4 ha) of land in 1862, and in 1865 it was granted permission to build a pumping station on the site. By this stage, the Lewes Road facility was suffering from pollution, and the opening of another pumping station at Falmer and the building of more reservoirs had not been sufficient to satisfy demand.
Work took place during 1866, and the facility opened in that year with the name Goldstone Pumping Station. The Brighton, Hove and Preston Constant Water Service Company operated it until their acquisition by Brighton Corporation. In its original form, the complex consisted of a boiler house and adjacent engine room, coal cellars and a chimney described by one historian as "truly monumental", all built of polychrome brick. The engine room housed a 120-horsepower
beam engine
made by Charles Amos of London-based manufacturer Easton and Amos. It was a compound engine of the type patented by engineer Arthur Woolf
. Water was drawn from a 160 feet (48.8 m) well which started immediately below the engine, which was known as the "Number 1 Engine". It was driven by three Lancashire boilers with twin furnaces, which were fed by two coal cellars. Up to 130000 gallons (590,991.7 l) of water could be pumped per hour.
In 1872, ownership of Goldstone Pumping Station and all other water facilities in the Brighton area passed to Brighton Corporation, who formed a new committee called the Brighton Water Corporation to operate them. Demand for water continued to rise, so in 1876 the Corporation undertook a major expansion of the pumping station. A second engine room was added, and a separate coal storage shed was built in the grounds. Workshop facilities were also provided, with a range of machine tools, forge
, lathe
and planer
and a separate Easton and Amos steam engine (apparently left over from The Great Exhibition
). The new engine house was equipped with the "Number 2 Engine"—a 250-horsepower Woolf compound unit built by the firm of Easton and Anderson and with a pumping capacity of 150000 gallons (681,913.5 l) per hour. It was powered by three more Lancashire boilers. Mayor of Brighton Henry Abbey fired up the engine for the first time on 26 October 1876; his visit, with members of the Water Corporation committee, was recorded on a plaque in the engine room. A network of arched tunnels were built to link the new coal shed, the workshop and the firing platform of the boiler room. The subterranean passages were used by coal trucks.
The next extension took place in 1884. A cooling pond and a leat
(an artificial waterway) were built on land behind the pumping station, and a new 1500000 gallons (6,819,135 l) underground reservoir was built by J.T. Chappell. It ran for 1/2 mi westwards from the complex. Brighton Water Corporation spent £11,000 on this work and on the building of two other reservoirs in Brighton, at Dyke Road and Race Hill. All three were built of tile, brick and Portland cement
. They were constantly replenished by a 1000 gallons (4,546.1 l)-per-minute inflow from numerous natural fissures in the chalk.
Because the surrounding area became substantially urbanised in the interwar period, the water was treated with ozone from 1937 to disinfect it. Meanwhile in 1934, the boilers powering the Number 2 Engine were replaced by four new models of the same type, built by the Blackburn-based Yates and Thom
company. Their capacity was greater: they could each generate 6000 pound-force of steam per hour. The pumping station soon went into decline, though. Electric pumps became available in the 1940s, and one was installed in the Number 1 Engine room; the engine itself was decommissioned at that time. The four new Lancashire boilers were in full-time use for only 18 years: Number 2 Engine was taken out of service in 1952, although it was maintained for a further two years in case it was required. Several pumping stations had been newly built or rebuilt since World War II—at Aldrington
, Falmer
, Mile Oak
, Newmarket Down (near Lewes), Patcham
and Sompting
—and the old Lewes Road source, closed in 1903 because of pollution, came back into use. The Corporation increased its supplies further by acquiring waterworks in Peacehaven
and Lewes in the 1950s. The Goldstone Pumping Station was considered outdated and no longer required, and in 1971 the Corporation announced plans to build a small electric pumphouse on the site, demolish the 19th-century buildings and scrap the steam-era equipment.
Jonathan Minns, a London-based steam and engineering expert, immediately set about trying to save the buildings and their contents. He applied to the Historic Buildings Council for England
(the forerunner of the present English Heritage
body) for listed status to be granted to the buildings in the complex. This was granted on 17 June 1971, and in the following year the Department of the Environment
issued a preservation order
preventing demolition or significant alteration of the buildings. Minns acquired the lease
of the complex in 1974, and planned to restore it from its derelict state and establish an industrial museum and educational centre. He also set up a trust
to run it. By this time, the complex had a new owner: the Water Act 1973
restructured the water industry in England and Wales, transferring ownership of water infrastructure from local authorities to ten government-controlled regional companies. Brighton Water Corporation became part of the Southern Water Authority
. It was this entity which granted the lease to Minns.
Minns had only £350 when he started work on the Engineerium, but more money soon arrived in the form of grants and donations. The Southern Water Authority gave the Trust £22,000, the Department of the Environment granted £40,000, and the Trust received the largest historic buildings grant awarded in Sussex up to that point in 1975. In October of that year, Minns and eight volunteers began to restore the complex and its machinery, which were in a state of disrepair. The boiler house and Number 2 Engine were the priority, but before they could be started the workshop had to be repaired so that its equipment could be used to carry out the necessary work elsewhere.
The boiler house and Number 2 Engine were in a particularly bad condition: the roof was wrecked, the metal fixtures were corroded, moss was growing on exposed surfaces and the boilers were not operational. Number 2 Engine had not been steamed since 1954, and had to be taken apart and rebuilt while the building was restored around it. Every moving part was cleaned by hand, and the exterior was repainted in its correct colour after the original paintwork was discovered under layers of mould and rust. The eight men worked for about six months on these tasks; Number 2 Engine was successfully fired up again on 14 March 1976 after the two renovated Lancashire boilers were tested and inspected by safety officials (the other two were left in their unrestored state).
The complex was first opened to the public on Good Friday
1976. The official reopening, on 26 October 1976 (exactly 100 years after Number 2 Engine was first fired up), came after the coal store was converted into an exhibition and educational area. At this time, it was named the Brighton and Hove Engineerium; the complex was given its present name on 30 May 1981. By this time, about 1,500 exhibits were on display, and the boilers and Number 2 Engine were fired up every weekend. The cost of running the Engineerium and employing 18 people (including six professional engineers) was running at about £250,000 per year. Although the Southern Water Authority, which still owned the site, paid for improvements in 1983, and grants came in from East Sussex
County Council and Hove Borough Council, there was no financial backing from central government—although the Engineerium was acknowledged as a national and international leader in industrial heritage and "the world's only centre for the teaching of engineering conservation". (Employees of the Engineerium have helped to set up or renovate more than 20 similar institutions across the world, and it was designated as England's South East Regional Centre during Industrial Heritage Year in 1993.) The centre's second royal visit, by the Duke of Kent in 1993, coincided with a fundraising plea for £4 million, to be spent on extensions to the exhibition space and workshop; Minns also applied unsuccessfully for a National Lottery grant. Vodafone
paid for the right to attach a mobile phone mast
to the chimney, though.
Ongoing funding problems caused the Engineerium to close in 2006, and the complex and its contents were put up for auction by Bonhams
. The inventory was split into hundreds of separate lots, and the buildings themselves were valued at £1.25 million. Just before the auction was due to begin, a local businessman and enthusiast offered the £1.25 million for the site conditional on his being donated half of the Minns Collection . This was accepted, and on 10 May 2006 the Engineerium Trust assets passed into Mike Holland's ownership.
The Engineerium stayed shut while its new owner invested in improvements and extensions. In February 2010, he stated that he expected the Engineerium to reopen within a year. On 10 October 2010, it was opened for a day to raise money for charity; the Number 2 Engine was demonstrated and many steam engines and other exhibits from the museum's own collection and from outside were on display.
brickwork, and the 95 feet (29 m) chimney to the south is also finely detailed and is a landmark in Hove. Both the buildings and the machinery inside demonstrate the widespread belief among Victorian
designers and architects that every object and building, no matter how commonplace or humble, should be elaborately and expansively embellished.
On the main buildings, the walls consist of bands of red, yellow and purplish-blue brick with moulded
layers and coping
. The ground floor has red brickwork with a rusticated
appearance. The cast-iron windows are set in round-arched openings below a string course
which runs around the whole building and consists of alternate patterns of red and black brick. The slate roof has flat-topped gable
s set above pediment
s at the top of each engine room. The two engine rooms are two-storey and have a three-bay
, three-window range; they flank the single-storey boiler room which also has three bays. The left- and right-hand bays are recessed; all have windows that are similar to those of the engine rooms.
The chimney stands about 7 feet (2.1 m) south of the engine rooms and boiler house. The rectangular, campanile
-style structure stands on a rusticated base with a tapering plinth
below it. Above this is a moulded
cornice
. The chimney itself tapers slightly and has tall arched panels on each face, forming slight recesses. An entablature
runs all the way round, linking these. The brickwork is of the same colours and detailing as the other buildings.
The former coal shed (now the exhibition hall) and its attached workshops are of red and brown brick with coping
on the walls and a shallow slate roof. The workshops, which do not contribute to the architectural interest of the building, are a perpendicular adjunct to the rear of the coal shed, so the building has an overall L-shape. Sloping land gives the building a single storey at the front (north) end and a second lower storey towards the rear. The three-bay north façade has three arched entrances; the smaller flanking pair have replacement doors.
Standing in the grounds behind the complex, the cooling pond measures 1100 square foot and has a leat
around three sides; it opens out on the southwest side. It is surrounded by small walls of red brick and terracotta. Pipework connects the leat to the boiler house, from which hot water flows; heat exchange takes place in the cooling pond; and cold water is returned to be used in the boilers.
Tall flint and brick walls, dating from 1866, surround the complex on all sides. Small flints laid in courses
form the main building material on three sides. Other parts have red brickwork with inset flints, and the main entrance has red-brick piers
with knapped flintwork. There are also iron railings and gates with the fleur-de-lis
emblem. The walls have recesses on the inside and outside at irregular intervals; one on the outside of the south wall contains a drinking fountain with a panel imploring users to . Flints are prevalent in this downland
area; so many were found when the pumping station was built that the contractors fashioned them into a deliberately ancient-looking folly on the southwest corner of the engine rooms.
built in France in 1859. American inventor George Henry Corliss
patented the design in 1849 and became president of The Corliss Steam Engine Company. The valve gear he invented improved the efficiency of horizontal reciprocating engine
s more than any other innovation. The Engineerium's example was assembled in 1859 by the Lille
-based company Crepelle & Grand. It was shown at the Exposition Universelle
in Paris in 1889, where it won first prize. It was then used for more than 50 years at L'Hôpital Émile-Roux
in Limeil-Brévannes
. It was bought by Jonathan Minns, taken apart, brought to the Engineerium and reassembled in 1975. The engine can generate 91 horsepower; its 13 feet (4 m), 4 long tons (4.1 t) flywheel
turns 80 times a minute; and the whole machine weighs 16 long tons (16.3 t).
The Engineerium also has a horse-drawn fire engine dating from 1890. Originally owned by the local authority in Barnstaple
, Devon
, the Shand Mason & Company vehicle was bought and restored by the museum's employees. It is a vertical steam engine with two cylinders and a pair of piston
s flanking a central crank
. A steam traction engine
built in 1886 by Marshall, Sons & Company
has also been restored. A range of veteran motorcycles are on display; the oldest is an Ariel Motorcycles
vehicle built in 1915.
Elsewhere in the complex, smaller steam engines are on display, alongside Victorian tools and domestic equipment such as stoves. Much of the equipment in the workshop is also original, such as the main forge
and a heavy-duty metal lathe
. The single-cylinder Easton and Amos steam engine used to power the belts which drive the machine tools in the workshop was already several years old when the Goldstone Pumping Station acquired it in 1875.
From the beginning, the overriding purpose of the collection of exhibits was to portray and explain the history and development of civil and mechanical engineering and British industry, through both the restoration of the pumping station's original equipment and the acquisition of other pieces associated with industrial pioneers such as James Watt
, Michael Faraday
and George Stephenson
. An example is a model of Stephenson's Locomotion No 1
engine, which was valued at £75,000 by Bonhams when the Engineerium was up for auction in 2006.
(the predecessor of English Heritage
). The organisation granted listed status in five separate parts on 7 June 1971, covering the pumping station's five main structures. The boiler rooms and engine house were jointly listed at Grade II*, as was its free-standing chimney. Three more structures were listed at Grade II: the cooling pond and leat, the coal storage shed and the flint and brick walls surrounding the complex. Grade II* is the second highest of the three designations awarded to listed buildings; such buildings are defined as being "particularly important ... [and] of more than special interest". As of February 2001, the boiler house and chimney represented two of the 70 Grade II*-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of Brighton and Hove. Grade II is the lowest status, given to "nationally important buildings of special interest". In February 2001, there were 1,124 such buildings in the city.
In 1982, an 8.89 acres (3.6 ha) zone incorporating the whole Engineerium complex became a conservation area
—one of 34 such areas in the city of Brighton and Hove.
West Blatchington
West Blatchington is an area in Hove, East Sussex, England.The area grew rapidly in the inter-war period, but unlike nearby Hangleton it had more infrastructure, with St Peter's Church, a working farm, a windmill and an industrial area grouped around the Goldstone Pumping Station and its workers'...
area of Hove
Hove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove, located just north of the Brighton & Hove Greyhound Stadium
Brighton & Hove Greyhound Stadium
Brighton & Hove Greyhound Stadium is a dog track located in the Hove Park area of the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex.It is a greyhound racing stadium for the purposes of entertainment, usually including gambling on the outcome of a race...
. It is housed in a 19th-century High Victorian Gothic
High Victorian Gothic
High Victorian Gothic was an eclectic architectural style and movement during the mid-late 19th century. It is seen by architectural historians as either sub-style of the broader Gothic Revival style, or a separate style unto its own right....
complex of brick buildings which were erected in 1866 as a pumping station for the local water supply company. The Goldstone Pumping Station supplied water to the local area for more than a century before it was converted to its present use.
At its greatest extent, between 1884 and 1952, the complex consisted of two boiler houses with condensing engines
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
, a chimney, coal cellars, workshop, cooling pond, leat
Leat
A leat is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond...
and underground reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
. Situated on top of a naturally fissured chalk hollow, it provided vast quantities of water to the rapidly growing towns of Hove and its larger neighbour, the fashionable seaside resort of Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, for more than a century. As new sources of water were found elsewhere and more modern equipment installed to exploit them, the pumping station's importance declined, and by 1971 the Brighton Water Department had closed it and threatened the complex with demolition. An industrial archaeologist offered to restore the buildings and machinery in return for a lease from the Brighton Water Corporation, and a charitable trust was formed to enable this. Expertise developed by the Engineerium's employees and volunteers was exploited across the world: they founded museums, undertook restoration projects and trained young people in engineering heritage conservation. Another enthusiast subsequently bought the complex, and as of it is closed to the public while more restoration and extension work takes place.
The High Victorian Gothic
High Victorian Gothic
High Victorian Gothic was an eclectic architectural style and movement during the mid-late 19th century. It is seen by architectural historians as either sub-style of the broader Gothic Revival style, or a separate style unto its own right....
buildings are a landmark in Hove, and are a good example of the 19th-century ethos that "utility definitely does not equal dullness" in industrial buildings. Polychrome brickwork, moulded dressings and facings, decorative gables and elaborate windows characterise all the structures – even the 95 feet (29 m) chimney, which stands apart from the main buildings like a campanile
Campanile
Campanile is an Italian word meaning "bell tower" . The term applies to bell towers which are either part of a larger building or free-standing, although in American English, the latter meaning has become prevalent.The most famous campanile is probably the Leaning Tower of Pisa...
. English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
has listed the complex for its architectural and historical importance, giving its structures five separate listings: the former boiler house and the chimney are both listed at Grade II* – the second-highest designation – and the former coal shed, the cooling pond and leat and the tall flint and brick wall surrounding the site each have the lower Grade II status.
As well as the restored pumping station equipment, the complex has a wide range of exhibits: more than 1,500 were in place less than a year after it opened. These include a 19th-century horse-drawn fire engine, traction engines, veteran motorcycles, Victorian household equipment and old tools. A French-built horizontal steam engine dating from 1859 is the principal exhibit. The Engineerium has always used its exhibits to educate and promote the study of industrial history: it has been called "the world's only centre for the teaching of engineering conservation", and was central to the activities of the English Industrial Heritage Year in 1993. For many years, the larger and indigenous exhibits were fully operational and in steam at weekends.
History
Brighton and neighbouring Hove, on the English ChannelEnglish Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
coast between the South Downs
South Downs
The South Downs is a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen Valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the east. It is bounded on its northern side by a steep escarpment, from whose...
and the sea, were built on top of a vast aquifer
Aquifer
An aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
of chalk. A regular supply of naturally pure water was always available from this natural reservoir, and in the settlements' early days many wells were sunk to exploit it. The rapid growth of Brighton in the 18th and early 19th century, followed by similar expansion in Hove, put pressure on the local authorities to provide more sources and a better supply system, though: wells became increasingly contaminated by sewage from cesspit
Cesspit
A cesspit, or cesspool is a pit, conservancy tank, or covered cistern, which can be used to dispose of urine and feces, and more generally of all sewage and refuse. It is a more antiquated solution than a sewer system. Traditionally, it was a deep cylindrical chamber dug into the earth, having...
s, and some had to be blocked because they were so polluted, reducing the two towns' water supply further. The first local water company—the Brighton, Hove and Preston
Preston Village, Brighton
Preston Village is a suburban area of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex to the north of the centre. Originally a village in its own right, it was eventually absorbed into Brighton with the development of the farmland owned by the local Stanford family, officially becoming a parish of the town in 1928...
Waterworks Company—was founded on 16 June 1834 by means of an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
; it built a waterworks on the road to Lewes
Lewes
Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...
and provided piped water for two hours per day to a few wealthy customers. This facility had two 20-horsepower
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
beam engines.
By the 1850s, more water was needed for the continually expanding population: the intermittent supply from the Lewes Road waterworks was the only alternative to wells and boreholes. In 1853, a new company was formed with the aim of introducing a large-scale, consistent supply to Brighton, Hove and surrounding villages. The Brighton, Hove and Preston Constant Water Service Company bought its predecessor, the Waterworks Company, in 1854. By the time it was in turn acquired by Brighton Corporation in 1872 (by means of another Act of Parliament), it was pumping 2600000 gallons (11,819,834 l) per day to 18,000 houses in Brighton, Hove and the surrounding villages of Falmer
Falmer
Falmer is a small village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England, lying between Brighton and Lewes, approximately five miles north-east of the former. It is also the site for Brighton & Hove Albion's new stadium....
, Hangleton
Hangleton
Hangleton is an estate in west Hove, East Sussex. The estate was developed circa the late 1930s after the Dyke railway was closed.It contains both the oldest building in the city of Brighton and Hove, St Helen's Church, and the second oldest building: that which was Hangleton Manor and is now the...
, Ovingdean
Ovingdean
Ovingdean is a small formerly agricultural village which was absorbed into the borough of Brighton, East Sussex, UK, in 1928, and now forms part of the city of Brighton and Hove. It has expanded through the growth of residential streets on its eastern and southern sides, and now has a population of...
, Patcham
Patcham
Patcham is an area of the city of Brighton and Hove. It is approximately north of the city centre, bounded by the A27 to the north, Hollingbury to the east and southeast, Withdean to the south and the Brighton Main Line to the west...
, Preston and Rottingdean
Rottingdean
Rottingdean is a coastal village next to the town of Brighton and technically within the city of Brighton and Hove, in East Sussex, on the south coast of England...
.
The company employed eminent civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
Thomas Hawksley
Thomas Hawksley
Thomas Hawksley was an English civil engineer of the 19th century, particularly associated with water and gas engineering projects.The son of John Hawksley and Mary Whittle, and born in Arnold, near Nottingham on , Hawksley was largely self-taught from the age of 15 onwards, having at that point...
to find a suitable site for a new pumping station. Hawksley built more waterworks than any of his Victorian counterparts: he oversaw more than 150 schemes in Britain and abroad. In 1858, he advised the company that the shallow chalk valley at Goldstone Bottom, at the south end of West Blatchington
West Blatchington
West Blatchington is an area in Hove, East Sussex, England.The area grew rapidly in the inter-war period, but unlike nearby Hangleton it had more infrastructure, with St Peter's Church, a working farm, a windmill and an industrial area grouped around the Goldstone Pumping Station and its workers'...
village just outside Hove, would be a good candidate for exploratory drilling. Test wells were sunk, and confirmed his impression. The company bought the 3.5 acres (1.4 ha) of land in 1862, and in 1865 it was granted permission to build a pumping station on the site. By this stage, the Lewes Road facility was suffering from pollution, and the opening of another pumping station at Falmer and the building of more reservoirs had not been sufficient to satisfy demand.
Work took place during 1866, and the facility opened in that year with the name Goldstone Pumping Station. The Brighton, Hove and Preston Constant Water Service Company operated it until their acquisition by Brighton Corporation. In its original form, the complex consisted of a boiler house and adjacent engine room, coal cellars and a chimney described by one historian as "truly monumental", all built of polychrome brick. The engine room housed a 120-horsepower
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
beam engine
Beam engine
A beam engine is a type of steam engine where a pivoted overhead beam is used to apply the force from a vertical piston to a vertical connecting rod. This configuration, with the engine directly driving a pump, was first used by Thomas Newcomen around 1705 to remove water from mines in Cornwall...
made by Charles Amos of London-based manufacturer Easton and Amos. It was a compound engine of the type patented by engineer Arthur Woolf
Arthur Woolf
Arthur Woolf was a Cornish engineer, most famous for inventing a high-pressure compound steam engine. As such he made an outstanding contribution to the development and perfection of the Cornish engine.Woolf left Cornwall in 1785 to work for Joseph Bramah's engineering works in London...
. Water was drawn from a 160 feet (48.8 m) well which started immediately below the engine, which was known as the "Number 1 Engine". It was driven by three Lancashire boilers with twin furnaces, which were fed by two coal cellars. Up to 130000 gallons (590,991.7 l) of water could be pumped per hour.
In 1872, ownership of Goldstone Pumping Station and all other water facilities in the Brighton area passed to Brighton Corporation, who formed a new committee called the Brighton Water Corporation to operate them. Demand for water continued to rise, so in 1876 the Corporation undertook a major expansion of the pumping station. A second engine room was added, and a separate coal storage shed was built in the grounds. Workshop facilities were also provided, with a range of machine tools, forge
Forge
A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...
, lathe
Lathe
A lathe is a machine tool which rotates the workpiece on its axis to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, or deformation with tools that are applied to the workpiece to create an object which has symmetry about an axis of rotation.Lathes are used in woodturning,...
and planer
Planer (metalworking)
A planer is a type of metalworking machine tool that uses linear relative motion between the workpiece and a single-point cutting tool to machine a linear toolpath. Its cut is analogous to that of a lathe, except that it is linear instead of helical...
and a separate Easton and Amos steam engine (apparently left over from The Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations or The Great Exhibition, sometimes referred to as the Crystal Palace Exhibition in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held, was an international exhibition that took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 15 October...
). The new engine house was equipped with the "Number 2 Engine"—a 250-horsepower Woolf compound unit built by the firm of Easton and Anderson and with a pumping capacity of 150000 gallons (681,913.5 l) per hour. It was powered by three more Lancashire boilers. Mayor of Brighton Henry Abbey fired up the engine for the first time on 26 October 1876; his visit, with members of the Water Corporation committee, was recorded on a plaque in the engine room. A network of arched tunnels were built to link the new coal shed, the workshop and the firing platform of the boiler room. The subterranean passages were used by coal trucks.
The next extension took place in 1884. A cooling pond and a leat
Leat
A leat is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond...
(an artificial waterway) were built on land behind the pumping station, and a new 1500000 gallons (6,819,135 l) underground reservoir was built by J.T. Chappell. It ran for 1/2 mi westwards from the complex. Brighton Water Corporation spent £11,000 on this work and on the building of two other reservoirs in Brighton, at Dyke Road and Race Hill. All three were built of tile, brick and Portland cement
Portland cement
Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world because it is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco and most non-specialty grout...
. They were constantly replenished by a 1000 gallons (4,546.1 l)-per-minute inflow from numerous natural fissures in the chalk.
Because the surrounding area became substantially urbanised in the interwar period, the water was treated with ozone from 1937 to disinfect it. Meanwhile in 1934, the boilers powering the Number 2 Engine were replaced by four new models of the same type, built by the Blackburn-based Yates and Thom
Yates and Thom
Yates & Thom Ltd, or Yates of Blackburn, was a British manufacturer of stationary steam engines and boilers at the Canal Ironworks, Blackburn, Lancashire, England.The company had its origins in a blacksmith's shop started by William Yates in 1824....
company. Their capacity was greater: they could each generate 6000 pound-force of steam per hour. The pumping station soon went into decline, though. Electric pumps became available in the 1940s, and one was installed in the Number 1 Engine room; the engine itself was decommissioned at that time. The four new Lancashire boilers were in full-time use for only 18 years: Number 2 Engine was taken out of service in 1952, although it was maintained for a further two years in case it was required. Several pumping stations had been newly built or rebuilt since World War II—at Aldrington
Aldrington
Aldrington is the name of an area of the city of Brighton and Hove, previously part of the old borough of Hove. For centuries it was meadow land along the English Channel stretching west from the old village of Hove to the old mouth of the River Adur, and it is now a prosperous residential area...
, Falmer
Falmer
Falmer is a small village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England, lying between Brighton and Lewes, approximately five miles north-east of the former. It is also the site for Brighton & Hove Albion's new stadium....
, Mile Oak
Mile Oak
Mile Oak is a locality forming the northern part of the former parish of Portslade in the north-west corner of the city of Brighton and Hove, England....
, Newmarket Down (near Lewes), Patcham
Patcham
Patcham is an area of the city of Brighton and Hove. It is approximately north of the city centre, bounded by the A27 to the north, Hollingbury to the east and southeast, Withdean to the south and the Brighton Main Line to the west...
and Sompting
Sompting
Sompting is a village and civil parish in the Adur District of West Sussex, England, located between Lancing and Worthing, at the foot of the southern slope of the South Downs. Twentieth century development has linked it to Lancing. The civil parish covers an area of 10.35 square kilometres and has...
—and the old Lewes Road source, closed in 1903 because of pollution, came back into use. The Corporation increased its supplies further by acquiring waterworks in Peacehaven
Peacehaven
Peacehaven is a town and civil parish in the Lewes district of East Sussex, England. It is located above the chalk cliffs of the South Downs approximately six miles east of Brighton city centre, on the A259 road...
and Lewes in the 1950s. The Goldstone Pumping Station was considered outdated and no longer required, and in 1971 the Corporation announced plans to build a small electric pumphouse on the site, demolish the 19th-century buildings and scrap the steam-era equipment.
Jonathan Minns, a London-based steam and engineering expert, immediately set about trying to save the buildings and their contents. He applied to the Historic Buildings Council for England
Historic Buildings Council
Three separate Historic Buildings Councils were created by the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953, one for each of England, Scotland and Wales...
(the forerunner of the present English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
body) for listed status to be granted to the buildings in the complex. This was granted on 17 June 1971, and in the following year the Department of the Environment
Secretary of State for the Environment
The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Department of the Environment . This was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Building and Works on 15...
issued a preservation order
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
preventing demolition or significant alteration of the buildings. Minns acquired the lease
Lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
of the complex in 1974, and planned to restore it from its derelict state and establish an industrial museum and educational centre. He also set up a trust
Trust law
In common law legal systems, a trust is a relationship whereby property is held by one party for the benefit of another...
to run it. By this time, the complex had a new owner: the Water Act 1973
Water Act 1973
The Water Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reorganised the water, sewage and river management industry in England and Wales...
restructured the water industry in England and Wales, transferring ownership of water infrastructure from local authorities to ten government-controlled regional companies. Brighton Water Corporation became part of the Southern Water Authority
Southern Water
Southern Water is the utility responsible for wastewater collection and treatment in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent, and for water supply and distribution in the approximately half of this area...
. It was this entity which granted the lease to Minns.
Minns had only £350 when he started work on the Engineerium, but more money soon arrived in the form of grants and donations. The Southern Water Authority gave the Trust £22,000, the Department of the Environment granted £40,000, and the Trust received the largest historic buildings grant awarded in Sussex up to that point in 1975. In October of that year, Minns and eight volunteers began to restore the complex and its machinery, which were in a state of disrepair. The boiler house and Number 2 Engine were the priority, but before they could be started the workshop had to be repaired so that its equipment could be used to carry out the necessary work elsewhere.
The boiler house and Number 2 Engine were in a particularly bad condition: the roof was wrecked, the metal fixtures were corroded, moss was growing on exposed surfaces and the boilers were not operational. Number 2 Engine had not been steamed since 1954, and had to be taken apart and rebuilt while the building was restored around it. Every moving part was cleaned by hand, and the exterior was repainted in its correct colour after the original paintwork was discovered under layers of mould and rust. The eight men worked for about six months on these tasks; Number 2 Engine was successfully fired up again on 14 March 1976 after the two renovated Lancashire boilers were tested and inspected by safety officials (the other two were left in their unrestored state).
The complex was first opened to the public on Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
1976. The official reopening, on 26 October 1976 (exactly 100 years after Number 2 Engine was first fired up), came after the coal store was converted into an exhibition and educational area. At this time, it was named the Brighton and Hove Engineerium; the complex was given its present name on 30 May 1981. By this time, about 1,500 exhibits were on display, and the boilers and Number 2 Engine were fired up every weekend. The cost of running the Engineerium and employing 18 people (including six professional engineers) was running at about £250,000 per year. Although the Southern Water Authority, which still owned the site, paid for improvements in 1983, and grants came in from East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
County Council and Hove Borough Council, there was no financial backing from central government—although the Engineerium was acknowledged as a national and international leader in industrial heritage and "the world's only centre for the teaching of engineering conservation". (Employees of the Engineerium have helped to set up or renovate more than 20 similar institutions across the world, and it was designated as England's South East Regional Centre during Industrial Heritage Year in 1993.) The centre's second royal visit, by the Duke of Kent in 1993, coincided with a fundraising plea for £4 million, to be spent on extensions to the exhibition space and workshop; Minns also applied unsuccessfully for a National Lottery grant. Vodafone
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
paid for the right to attach a mobile phone mast
Cell site
A cell site is a term used to describe a site where antennas and electronic communications equipment are placed, usually on a radio mast, tower or other high place, to create a cell in a cellular network...
to the chimney, though.
Ongoing funding problems caused the Engineerium to close in 2006, and the complex and its contents were put up for auction by Bonhams
Bonhams
Bonhams is a privately owned British auction house founded in 1793. It is the third largest auctioneer after Sotheby's and Christie's, and conducts around 700 auctions per year. It has 700 employees....
. The inventory was split into hundreds of separate lots, and the buildings themselves were valued at £1.25 million. Just before the auction was due to begin, a local businessman and enthusiast offered the £1.25 million for the site conditional on his being donated half of the Minns Collection . This was accepted, and on 10 May 2006 the Engineerium Trust assets passed into Mike Holland's ownership.
The Engineerium stayed shut while its new owner invested in improvements and extensions. In February 2010, he stated that he expected the Engineerium to reopen within a year. On 10 October 2010, it was opened for a day to raise money for charity; the Number 2 Engine was demonstrated and many steam engines and other exhibits from the museum's own collection and from outside were on display.
Architecture
The Engineerium has been described by Brighton historian Clifford Musgrave as an "unusually fine asset" for Brighton and Hove and by fellow historian Ken Fines "a splendid example of Victorian industrial engineering". The buildings have intricately patterned polychromePolychrome
Polychrome is one of the terms used to describe the use of multiple colors in one entity. It has also been defined as "The practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." Polychromatic light is composed of a number of different wavelengths...
brickwork, and the 95 feet (29 m) chimney to the south is also finely detailed and is a landmark in Hove. Both the buildings and the machinery inside demonstrate the widespread belief among Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
designers and architects that every object and building, no matter how commonplace or humble, should be elaborately and expansively embellished.
On the main buildings, the walls consist of bands of red, yellow and purplish-blue brick with moulded
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
layers and coping
Coping (architecture)
Coping , consists of the capping or covering of a wall.A splayed or wedge coping slopes in a single direction; a saddle coping slopes to either side of a central high point....
. The ground floor has red brickwork with a rusticated
Rustication (architecture)
thumb|upright|Two different styles of rustication in the [[Palazzo Medici-Riccardi]] in [[Florence]].In classical architecture rustication is an architectural feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar...
appearance. The cast-iron windows are set in round-arched openings below a string course
Course (architecture)
A course is a continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material one unit high, usually in a wall. The term is almost always used in conjunction with unit masonry such as brick, cut stone, or concrete masonry units .-Styles:...
which runs around the whole building and consists of alternate patterns of red and black brick. The slate roof has flat-topped gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
s set above pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
s at the top of each engine room. The two engine rooms are two-storey and have a three-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
, three-window range; they flank the single-storey boiler room which also has three bays. The left- and right-hand bays are recessed; all have windows that are similar to those of the engine rooms.
The chimney stands about 7 feet (2.1 m) south of the engine rooms and boiler house. The rectangular, campanile
Campanile
Campanile is an Italian word meaning "bell tower" . The term applies to bell towers which are either part of a larger building or free-standing, although in American English, the latter meaning has become prevalent.The most famous campanile is probably the Leaning Tower of Pisa...
-style structure stands on a rusticated base with a tapering plinth
Plinth
In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests. Gottfried Semper's The Four Elements of Architecture posited that the plinth, the hearth, the roof, and the wall make up all of architectural theory. The plinth usually rests...
below it. Above this is a moulded
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
. The chimney itself tapers slightly and has tall arched panels on each face, forming slight recesses. An entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
runs all the way round, linking these. The brickwork is of the same colours and detailing as the other buildings.
The former coal shed (now the exhibition hall) and its attached workshops are of red and brown brick with coping
Coping (architecture)
Coping , consists of the capping or covering of a wall.A splayed or wedge coping slopes in a single direction; a saddle coping slopes to either side of a central high point....
on the walls and a shallow slate roof. The workshops, which do not contribute to the architectural interest of the building, are a perpendicular adjunct to the rear of the coal shed, so the building has an overall L-shape. Sloping land gives the building a single storey at the front (north) end and a second lower storey towards the rear. The three-bay north façade has three arched entrances; the smaller flanking pair have replacement doors.
Standing in the grounds behind the complex, the cooling pond measures 1100 square foot and has a leat
Leat
A leat is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond...
around three sides; it opens out on the southwest side. It is surrounded by small walls of red brick and terracotta. Pipework connects the leat to the boiler house, from which hot water flows; heat exchange takes place in the cooling pond; and cold water is returned to be used in the boilers.
Tall flint and brick walls, dating from 1866, surround the complex on all sides. Small flints laid in courses
Course (architecture)
A course is a continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material one unit high, usually in a wall. The term is almost always used in conjunction with unit masonry such as brick, cut stone, or concrete masonry units .-Styles:...
form the main building material on three sides. Other parts have red brickwork with inset flints, and the main entrance has red-brick piers
Pier (architecture)
In architecture, a pier is an upright support for a superstructure, such as an arch or bridge. Sections of wall between openings function as piers. The simplest cross section of the pier is square, or rectangular, although other shapes are also common, such as the richly articulated piers of Donato...
with knapped flintwork. There are also iron railings and gates with the fleur-de-lis
Fleur-de-lis
The fleur-de-lis or fleur-de-lys is a stylized lily or iris that is used as a decorative design or symbol. It may be "at one and the same time, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic", especially in heraldry...
emblem. The walls have recesses on the inside and outside at irregular intervals; one on the outside of the south wall contains a drinking fountain with a panel imploring users to . Flints are prevalent in this downland
South Downs
The South Downs is a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen Valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the east. It is bounded on its northern side by a steep escarpment, from whose...
area; so many were found when the pumping station was built that the contractors fashioned them into a deliberately ancient-looking folly on the southwest corner of the engine rooms.
Exhibits
The Engineerium has hundreds of exhibits relating to the history of engineering and steam power. Many are on display in the exhibition hall, which occupies the former coal storage shed. The central feature of the hall is a Corliss steam engineCorliss Steam Engine
A Corliss steam engine is a steam engine, fitted with rotary valves and with variable valve timing patented in 1849, invented by and named after the American engineer George Henry Corliss in Providence, Rhode Island....
built in France in 1859. American inventor George Henry Corliss
George Henry Corliss
George Henry Corliss was an American mechanical engineer and inventor, who developed the Corliss steam engine, which was a great improvement over any other stationary steam engine of its time. The Corliss engine is widely considered one of the more notable engineering achievements of the 19th...
patented the design in 1849 and became president of The Corliss Steam Engine Company. The valve gear he invented improved the efficiency of horizontal reciprocating engine
Reciprocating engine
A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common features of all types...
s more than any other innovation. The Engineerium's example was assembled in 1859 by the Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
-based company Crepelle & Grand. It was shown at the Exposition Universelle
Exposition Universelle (1889)
The Exposition Universelle of 1889 was a World's Fair held in Paris, France from 6 May to 31 October 1889.It was held during the year of the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, an event traditionally considered as the symbol for the beginning of the French Revolution...
in Paris in 1889, where it won first prize. It was then used for more than 50 years at L'Hôpital Émile-Roux
Pierre Paul Émile Roux
Pierre Paul Émile Roux FRS was a French physician, bacteriologist and immunologist who was one of the closest collaborators of Louis Pasteur , a co-founder of the Pasteur Institute and discoverer of the anti-diphtheria serum, the first effective therapy for this disease.Roux got his baccalaureate...
in Limeil-Brévannes
Limeil-Brévannes
Limeil-Brévannes is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-Transport:Limeil-Brévannes is served by no station of the Paris Métro, RER, or suburban rail network. The closest station to Limeil-Brévannes is Boissy-Saint-Léger station on Paris...
. It was bought by Jonathan Minns, taken apart, brought to the Engineerium and reassembled in 1975. The engine can generate 91 horsepower; its 13 feet (4 m), 4 long tons (4.1 t) flywheel
Flywheel
A flywheel is a rotating mechanical device that is used to store rotational energy. Flywheels have a significant moment of inertia, and thus resist changes in rotational speed. The amount of energy stored in a flywheel is proportional to the square of its rotational speed...
turns 80 times a minute; and the whole machine weighs 16 long tons (16.3 t).
The Engineerium also has a horse-drawn fire engine dating from 1890. Originally owned by the local authority in Barnstaple
Barnstaple
Barnstaple is a town and civil parish in the local government district of North Devon in the county of Devon, England, UK. It lies west southwest of Bristol, north of Plymouth and northwest of the county town of Exeter. The old spelling Barnstable is now obsolete.It is the main town of the...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, the Shand Mason & Company vehicle was bought and restored by the museum's employees. It is a vertical steam engine with two cylinders and a pair of piston
Piston
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from...
s flanking a central crank
Crank (mechanism)
A crank is an arm attached at right angles to a rotating shaft by which reciprocating motion is imparted to or received from the shaft. It is used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion. The arm may be a bent portion of the shaft, or a separate arm...
. A steam traction engine
Traction engine
A traction engine is a self-propelled steam engine used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin tractus, meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any traction engine is to draw a load behind it...
built in 1886 by Marshall, Sons & Company
Marshall, Sons & Co.
-External links:* – at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia...
has also been restored. A range of veteran motorcycles are on display; the oldest is an Ariel Motorcycles
Ariel Motorcycles
Ariel Motorcycles was a British motorcycle manufacturer based in Bournbrook, Birmingham. It was one of the leading innovators in British motorcycling, and was part of the Ariel marque. The company was sold to BSA in 1944 and the name was discontinued in 1970...
vehicle built in 1915.
Elsewhere in the complex, smaller steam engines are on display, alongside Victorian tools and domestic equipment such as stoves. Much of the equipment in the workshop is also original, such as the main forge
Forge
A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...
and a heavy-duty metal lathe
Lathe (metal)
A metal lathe or metalworking lathe is a large class of lathes designed for precisely machining relatively hard materials. They were originally designed to machine metals; however, with the advent of plastics and other materials, and with their inherent versatility, they are used in a wide range of...
. The single-cylinder Easton and Amos steam engine used to power the belts which drive the machine tools in the workshop was already several years old when the Goldstone Pumping Station acquired it in 1875.
From the beginning, the overriding purpose of the collection of exhibits was to portray and explain the history and development of civil and mechanical engineering and British industry, through both the restoration of the pumping station's original equipment and the acquisition of other pieces associated with industrial pioneers such as James Watt
James Watt
James Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.While working as an instrument maker at the...
, Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....
and George Stephenson
George Stephenson
George Stephenson was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives...
. An example is a model of Stephenson's Locomotion No 1
Locomotion No 1
Locomotion No. 1 is an early British steam locomotive. Built by George and Robert Stephenson's company Robert Stephenson and Company in 1825, it hauled the first train on the Stockton and Darlington Railway on 27 September 1825....
engine, which was valued at £75,000 by Bonhams when the Engineerium was up for auction in 2006.
Heritage status
When Jonathan Minns, who later bought the complex, found in 1971 that it was threatened with demolition, he successfully sought to get it listed by the Historic Buildings Council for EnglandHistoric Buildings Council
Three separate Historic Buildings Councils were created by the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953, one for each of England, Scotland and Wales...
(the predecessor of English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
). The organisation granted listed status in five separate parts on 7 June 1971, covering the pumping station's five main structures. The boiler rooms and engine house were jointly listed at Grade II*, as was its free-standing chimney. Three more structures were listed at Grade II: the cooling pond and leat, the coal storage shed and the flint and brick walls surrounding the complex. Grade II* is the second highest of the three designations awarded to listed buildings; such buildings are defined as being "particularly important ... [and] of more than special interest". As of February 2001, the boiler house and chimney represented two of the 70 Grade II*-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of Brighton and Hove. Grade II is the lowest status, given to "nationally important buildings of special interest". In February 2001, there were 1,124 such buildings in the city.
In 1982, an 8.89 acres (3.6 ha) zone incorporating the whole Engineerium complex became a conservation area
Conservation Area (United Kingdom)
In the United Kingdom, the term Conservation Area nearly always applies to an area considered worthy of preservation or enhancement because of its special architectural or historic interest, "the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance," as required by the Planning ...
—one of 34 such areas in the city of Brighton and Hove.
See also
- Brede WaterworksBrede WaterworksBrede Waterworks is a waterworks at Brede, East Sussex, England. It was built to supply Hastings with drinking water. The waterworks still houses two of the three steam engines that were used to pump water from Brede to reservoirs at Fairlight and Baldslow....
- Grade II* listed buildings in Brighton and Hove
- Grade II listed buildings in Brighton and Hove: A–BGrade II listed buildings in Brighton and Hove: A–BAs of February 2001, there were 1,124 listed buildings with Grade II status in the English city of Brighton and Hove. The total at 2009 was similar. The city, on the English Channel coast approximately south of London, was formed as a unitary authority in 1997 by the merger of the neighbouring...
- List of conservation areas in Brighton and Hove