Battersea Water Pumping Station is the oldest surviving water pumping station in London.
It was built in 1840 for the Southwark Water Company and extended in 1856. It housed a series of Cornish engines used for pumping water from the Thames. At one time the pumping station housed the largest Cornish engine ever built, with a 112″ diameter cylinder.
The building was listed Grade II in 1994.
The pumping station commemorates the rich industrial heritage of the Nine Elms and North Battersea. It has great potential to encouraging young people to think of science, technology and engineering as important skills worth acquiring.
Retaining and preserving the pumping station would attract visitors to the site and therefore increase footfall for the new facilities that will be open to the public. It is in everybody’s interest that it is preserved.
We ask Wandsworth Council to initiate discussions with the owner/developer so that the development can be reconfigured to incorporate the pumping station
We further ask Wandsworth Council to convene negotiations between the owner/developer and the Battersea Power Station Company Ltd (a local registered charity) to allow the pumping station to be passed into the latter’s ownership for £1, to allow them to renovate the pumping station with Lottery funding.
Sean Creighton & Keith Garner
June 2014
Stop this cultural vandalism for profit.
For more blogs on the Battersea Water Pumping Station
Click Battersea Power Station for more blogs
See our Battersea Power Station project pages for more information and videos.
Or visit PlanA our general blog on urbanism, planning and architecture.
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