Abbey Pumping Station
Abbey Pumping Station, Leicester Museum of Science and Technology
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 Abbey Pumping Station
Location of the Museum in Leicester
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| Established | 1972 |
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| Location | Leicester, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 52°39′18″N 1°07′50″W / 52.6550°N 1.1306°WCoordinates: 52°39′18″N 1°07′50″W / 52.6550°N 1.1306°W |
| Type | Science and Technology Museum |
| Key holdings | Steam engines, 'interactive toilets', steam shovel, buses |
| Architect | Stockdale Harrison |
| Website | www |
The Abbey Pumping Station is a museum of science and technology in Leicester, England, on Corporation Road, next to the National Space Centre. With four working steam-powered beam engines from its time as a sewage pumping station, it also houses exhibits for transport, public health, light and optics, toys and civil engineering.
The building was constructed in 1891 by Leicester Corporation on the north side of Leicester, alongside the River Soar, as a pumping station used to pump the town's sewage to Beaumont Leys. The grand Victorian building, designed by Stockdale Harrison (Leicester architect) in 1890, houses four Arthur Woolf compound beam engines built by Gimson and Company of Leicester. The first attempt to respond to the population's sewage disposal was in 1850 when piped water made water closets possible, and Thomas Wicksteed designed and built sewers leading to a sedimentation and de-oderisation treatment works on the northern, downstream, edge of the town. Limited capacity and high costs meant that a Pail closet system continued to be used for poorer neighbourhoods. As the town expanded so did the problems of pollution in the River Soar from the treatment works. Disposal of the Night soil from the pail closets, via railway wagons and canal barges, caused complaints of smell and pollution. A new solution was needed and the answer was to pump everything to a Sewage farm on higher ground at Beaumont Leys. It continued pumping Leicester's sewage until 1964, when electric pumps took over, and within a few years the Wanlip Sewage Treatment plant took over and the pumping station was no longer needed.
In 1972 the building re-opened as a museum of science and technology, run by Leicestershire Museums. The huge beam engines were retained intact, and were gradually restored to full working order. It is one of a number of historic pumping stations which have been preserved. Leicester City Council became a unitary authority in 1997 and the Abbey Pumping Station is one of the museums that is within their jurisdiction.
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