Crossness steam engine open day

An open day at the Victorian steam pumping station in Abbey Wood that was the final point in London's sewer network.

Crossness was built as part of the Bazalgette sewer upgrades across London to deal with the sickness and pollution caused by sewage, and at Crossness, a huge pumping station was built.

Its function was simply to lift the sewage up from the deep sewers to sea level so that it could be discharged into the Thames far from where people lived. As the Victorian buildings stopped serving that function a long time ago, when a much more hygienic plant was built next door, the site is now open occasionally to visitors.

There are four huge steam engines, with three being restored, so on visitor days, the big restored beam engine is put back into action doing what all good steam engines do, which is generate lots of steam, noise and hissing.

A recent upgrade of the side rooms has added a larger museum exhibit as well, and most of the site that’s still waiting to be restored is open to wander around, so you can see it in the raw state.