London Museum of Water & Steam

There’s a lot to see at the museum and we cannot fit it all into this guide; therefore, we are going to cover key points of interest.

After entering the museum, you will reach a huge hall that once housed a row of boilers. It now contains displays detailing the history of humanity’s water supply achievements, the development of London’s water distribution system, and modern initiatives for water conservation. There are also many interactive exhibits, our favourite is a row of models that demonstrate various methods of pumping water used by the Romans to the modern age.

In south-east corner is a Lancashire boiler, which was used to create steam for pumping engines. It was brought to the museum from Chiswick Public Baths and is roughly half the size of the boilers that existed at Kew Bridge Waterworks. Can you imagine crawling inside to clean these giants?

Head to the next hall behind the boiler containing the steam engines installed as museum exhibits. ‘The Dancer’s End’ engine is unusual because it originally pumped water on a private estate near Tring. Engines of this type were commonly used in the textile mills of Lancashire and Yorkshire. It was built in 1867, retired circa 1943, and reassembled in the museum in 1979.

‘The Waddon’ is a horizontal cross-compound engine that was used to pump water in Croydon. The engine drove three pumps, two for lifting water from a well before the third moved water to a reservoir and the mains supply. It was built in 1910, retired in 1983, and restored at the museum in 1990.

The triple expansion engine is one of the most efficient machines for supplying water because it expands steam it consumes in three separate stages. It can run non-stop for long periods of times without requiring attention.

There are more rescued engines and equipment to see in this hall. Once you are ready to move on, head to the original engine houses.

The oldest of these houses contains a Boulton & Watt beam engine. Constructed in 1820 for a waterworks site in Chelsea, it was one of a pair of engines brought to Kew in 1840. Six years later, both engines were converted to use the more efficient Cornish Cycle, which involved substantial rebuilds due to requirement of handling steam at higher pressures. Both engines were retired in 1944 and the east engine was scrapped leaving the one you see today.

The next house contains a huge 90-inch diameter Cornish beam engine. It was powerful enough to supply water to the upper floors of multi storey buildings. It was installed in 1846 and retired in 1944. Despite running almost non-stop nearly for nearly 100 years, it rarely broke down or required repair.

Move on to the Cornish Bull engine, the only surviving example of this engine type still in operation, and in its original location. The steam cylinder in inverted over the pump and so no beam is required. Bull engines were popular because they were cheaper to purchase and produced the same power output as a beam engine and required less space. This engine was installed in 1857 and retired in 1934.

The final original engine on display is the colossal 100-inch diameter Cornish beam engine, the largest surviving single cylinder beam engine in the world. It was one of the last to be built for pumping water, the design was even out of date the day it went to work in 1871. Eight years later, the beam snapped amid shock based on confidence that the sheer size of the engine made it unbreakable. The beam was repaired, and the engine ran well until retirement in 1944; however, the repair has made attaining insurance difficult and so the engine sits silently waiting for its return to glory.

The final hall houses the electric pumps and equipment that replaced its steam predecessors working alongside diesel combustion engines. There are so many examples of machinery, it is impractical to feature all of them in this guide.

A notable exhibit is the Reader engine that produced electricity using steam power. It is similar to those first used at Kew Bridge to produce electricity mainly for powering the lights. Constructed between 1907-1910 by Reader & Co. of Nottingham, it is an early example of the transition to electricity from coal fired steam.

It’s time to head outside into the rear courtyard where you will see a gigantic overshot waterwheel that originally pumped water to the village of Maiden Bradley and a private estate in Wiltshire, which sat at the top of Mapperton Hill.

Look up at the looming standpipe tower. Commonly mistaken for a chimney, this tall structure is essentially a winter coat to prevent a series of vertical standpipes from freezing. These pipes were used to regulate the water pressure as it pulsated due to the strokes of steam pumping engines. The tower was also used for a lookout during World War Two. The museum offers tours of the tower on special weekends.

There is also a narrow-gauge railway that runs services on special weekends. It is not original; however, it replicates the waterworks railway that would have existed to carry coal for the boilers and sand for the filter beds.

This is where we end our online tour, but don’t be fooled, there is so much more to see at the museum, including the gardens, diesel engine house, and workshops. Do take your time to see everything as it is definitely worth the experience.