Dock Road Edwardian Pumping Station
Encyclopedia
Dock Road Edwardian Pumping Station is a sewage pumping station
in Northwich
, Cheshire
, United Kingdom. It was built in 1910. The pumping station has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade II listed building.
chemical company was provided new housing for their employees and Northwich
sewage
facilities were not adequate. The first sewers were laid in the town and discharged into the River Weaver
, causing widespread pollution and providing no defence against disease. The Wallerscote Sewage Works was opened in 1902, and was successful in improving the conditions within the area it served. However there were large parts of the town that was too low-lying for sewage to flow to Wallerscote.
To solve the problem, Northwich Urban District Council built the pumping station next to the River Weaver at Dock Road in 1913. The station intercepted sewage before it entered the river and pumped it across the river to the top of Castle Hill and onwards to the Wallerscote Works.
The pumping station was in use for over 60 years and is now maintained by United Utilities
as a monument that is open to the public.
'N'-type gas-fired engines and two Haywood Tyler triplex lift and force pumps, capable of pumping 9,600 gallons per hour. In the 1970s electric pumps capable of pumping 36,000 gallons per hour replaced these but the originals have now been restored.
Pumping station
Pumping stations are facilities including pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastructure systems, such as the supply of water to canals, the drainage of low-lying land, and the removal of sewage to processing sites.A pumping station...
in Northwich
Northwich
Northwich is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, United Kingdom. It was built in 1910. The pumping station has been designated by 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...
as a Grade II listed building.
History
Towards the end of the 19th century, Brunner MondBrunner Mond
Tata Chemicals Europe is a UK-based chemicals company that is a subsidiary of Tata Chemicals Limited, itself a part of the India-based Tata Group...
chemical company was provided new housing for their employees and Northwich
Northwich
Northwich is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane...
sewage
Sewage
Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...
facilities were not adequate. The first sewers were laid in the town and discharged into the River Weaver
River Weaver
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included eleven locks, was completed in 1732...
, causing widespread pollution and providing no defence against disease. The Wallerscote Sewage Works was opened in 1902, and was successful in improving the conditions within the area it served. However there were large parts of the town that was too low-lying for sewage to flow to Wallerscote.
To solve the problem, Northwich Urban District Council built the pumping station next to the River Weaver at Dock Road in 1913. The station intercepted sewage before it entered the river and pumped it across the river to the top of Castle Hill and onwards to the Wallerscote Works.
The pumping station was in use for over 60 years and is now maintained by United Utilities
United Utilities
United Utilities Group PLC is the UK's largest listed water business. The Group owns and manages the regulated water and waste water network in the north west England, through it subsidiary United Utilities Water PLC , which is responsible for the vast majority of the group's assets and...
as a monument that is open to the public.
Equipment
The station was equipped with two single-cylinder CrossleyCrossley
Crossley, based in Manchester, United Kingdom, was a pioneering company in the production of internal combustion engines. Since 1988 it has been part of the Rolls-Royce Power Engineering group.More than 100,000 Crossley oil and gas engines have been built....
'N'-type gas-fired engines and two Haywood Tyler triplex lift and force pumps, capable of pumping 9,600 gallons per hour. In the 1970s electric pumps capable of pumping 36,000 gallons per hour replaced these but the originals have now been restored.
External links
- Dock Road website(pictures don't display)
- Getting Here website