Markfield Beam Engine
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The Markfield Beam Engine is a 100 horsepower beam pumping engine, built in 1886 to transfer sewage from the Middlesex district of Tottenham into the London system for treatment at the Beckton works.
The engine is housed in a Grade II listed building, "Engine House No. 2", and, having been restored to near-working order, the engine is the main feature of Markfield Museum.
The museum is sited on the northern edge of Markfield Park, a large public open space. Haringey Council are currently (2006 - 2007) seeking funding for a regeneration project for the park area, which includes the full restoration of the beam engine.
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[edit] History
The Tottenham and Wood Green sewage treatment works and pumping station was opened in 1864[citation needed].
The Markfield Beam Engine itself was built between 1886 and 1888. It was commissioned on the 12th July 1888 and saw continuous duty from that time until late in 1905, when it was relegated to standby duty for stormwater pumping.
By the late 1950s it was decided that the site was too small to have a digested sludge system installed and that the treatment charges levied by the London County Council meant that it was more cost-effective to have all effluents directed through a new low-level sewer to the rebuilt Deepham Sewage Treatment Works at Edmonton. Thus pumping of sewage would no longer be required at the Markfield Works.
In 1964, after more than one hundred years of operation, all the incoming sewers were diverted to the extended East Middlesex Works at Deephams.
The works were closed and all machinery, apart from the Beam Engine, was scrapped. The site was levelled, apart from the engine house buildings and the settling tanks and filter beds. The engine house was made secure and the Beam Engine mothballed.
The former sludge tanks were turned into a communal garden space, however due to neglect and poor security, the entire area has been extensively vandalised and allowed to become overgrown.
[edit] The engine - technical details
The beam engine is a free-standing engine of the compound rotative type. It is believed to be the last engine produced by Wood Bros. of Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire. It is the only surviving eight-column engine in its original location. The engine has two cylinders arranged to be double-acting and compounded.
The engine's beam drives two pumps of the single-acting plunger type. Each pump is 26" diameter and 51" stroke. At a working speed of 16rpm, these pumps could handle 4 million gallons in 24 hours over a relatively low head. The engine's flywheel is 27 feet in diameter and weighs around 17 tons.
The engine features a speed governor of the Watt Centrifugal type and its drive coupling to the cylinders is of the conventional Watt parallel motion Linkage.
The engine is finely decorated, according to the fashion of the day, with doric columns and acanthus leaves. There are also three finely ornate iron vases atop the valve chest. Its original colours, it is believed, were light and dark green with all exposed metalwork being highly polished and oiled.
[edit] Restoration
Since the engine was mothballed in February 1964, and the surrounding site was levelled, the area has seen significant decay and vandalism. It has been estimated that a complete restoration of the engine will cost an additional £25000. At the moment, the engine has been restored and painted to a moving condition. A steam generator was fitted in a new boilerhouse annexe in the early 1980s but it has since broken down.
A video of the engine operating can be seen when the museum opens on the 2nd Sunday of every month.
Caretaking for the Beam Engine has been undertaken by a few individuals, but most notably Dr Fred Clark.
[edit] Regeneration
Haringey Council are planning a major project to regenerate Markfield Park. A key part of the £1.5 million project is the restoration of the beam engine to full working order, and the development of the museum to provide better educational facilities for the area. An initial £22900 was awarded to the council by the Heritage Lottery Fund in May 2007, for the purposes of developing detailed plans for Stage 2 of the application for the remainder of the funding.[1][2] The restoration will include the replacement of all the pumphouse windows, which have been bricked-up since 1964 in an effort to secure the beam engine from vandalism. (Plans showing the new museum complex may be found on the Offficail Website.)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Wilson, Jan (2006). Markfield Masterplan. (Regeneration plan). Haringey Council. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
- ^ Markfield Masterplan (pdf). (includes photos and maps). Haringey Council (2006). Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
[edit] External links
- Markfield Beam Engine and Museum - official website
