One of Victorian engineering’s great marvels – the steam powered sewage pumping station at Crossness reopens to the public on Sunday.
It has had semi-regular open days as the massive cathedral building was restored, but had to close suddenly in 2017 after they discovered asbestos, and it was only thanks to an urgent fundraising effort that they have been able to open up the building once more.
Inside, one of the four mighty pumping engines has been restored to full working order, so the site is an unusual site to visit, being both part fully working restored engine, and part industrial wasteland — and set in the far flung corner of a working sewage plant.
In essence, it’s quite marvelous.
If you fancy a dose of Victorian steam, industrial heritage, and ever so strong an occasional whiff of sewage, then the pumping station opens on Sunday (31st March) between 10:30am to 5pm with last entry at 4pm.
There is an admission charge – Age 16 and over – £8, Age 5-15 – £2, under 5 free.
Due to the location, there is a car park, but they also run a shuttle bus from Abbey Wood station every half hour from 10:30am to 2:30pm.
The cost of the return journey is £3
Some photos from Thursday evening:
They are also building a new railway line that will take people from the car park to the pumping station – and on Thursday the locomotive was renamed in a ceremony.
Two members of the Bazalgette family name the third Bazalgette
Steam loco waiting for restoration in the shed
Sounds a great visit for Mothers Day. 😂 Most Mum’s will have had to deal the stuff. 😉
Is it only open on 31 March 2019? Is it open daily?
They have occasional open days – dates on their website.
Great, but they could have jet sprayed the outside of the building during this time, surely?
Or maybe it’s really really ingrained dirt!
I am sure they would be delighted to do more work on the building, if you stump up the cash to pay for it.