Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum | |
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  Shown within Somerset
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| Building information | |
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| Town | Westonzoyland |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: |
| Completion date | 1861 |
The Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum is a small Industrial Heritage museum dedicated to steam powered machinery in Westonzoyland, Somerset, England.
The museum is housed in the first of several similar pumping stations to be built on the Somerset Levels. The main attraction is the 1861 steam engine and pump, the only one still in its original location and in working order. The museum also displays a number of other steam engines and pumps, and even has a short length of narrow gauge railway.
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[edit] History
The first mechanical pumping station on the Somerset Levels in southwestern England was built in 1830 to drain the area around Westonzoyland, Middlezoy and Othery [1]. The success of the drainage system led to the formation of other drainage boards and the construction of other pumping stations.
The pump at Westonzoyland originally comprised a beam engine and scoop wheel (like a water wheel running backwards) but, after 25 years, there were problems pumping the water away as the land had dropped as it dried out. A better method was sought, and in 1861 the present pump was installed. The engine was built by Easton and Amos of London, to a design patented in 1858 by Charles Amos. It is a twin cylinder, vertical condensing engine, driving a centrifugal pump. A similar engine was on display at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and was shown to be able to lift 100 tons of water per minute, to a height of 6 feet. The Westonzoyland pump lifts water from the rhyne (pronounced 'reen') into the River Parrett. The pump operated until 1951, by which time the local drainage system had been linked into King's Sedgemoor Drain, which discharged further down the River Parrett; the water levels dropped and the pump was unable to draw the water from the rhyne.
During times of heavy rainfall, when additional pumping might be needed, the Environment Agency maintained a diesel pumping station next door with a capacity of 50 tons per minute.
[edit] Restoration
In 1976, members of the Somerset Industrial Archaeology Society [2] began restoration of the site, which included digging out tons of mud which had buried the bottom of the pump.
The Westonzoyland Engine Trust was formed and in 1990 bought the site from the owners, Wessex Water. A collection of steam and diesel engines with connections either to the area or to pumping have been assembled on site and regular steam days are held.
The pump house has been Grade II* listed, and is on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk Register.
Steam is provided by an elderly Marshall portable boiler – essentially a portable engine without the actual engine.
