Claverton Pumping Station
| Claverton Pumping Station | |
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Claverton Pumping Station with the pump house on the left, the wheelhouse to the right and the millpond in the foreground
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| Location | Claverton, Somerset, England |
| Coordinates | 51°22′41″N 2°18′06″W / 51.37806°N 2.30167°WCoordinates: 51°22′41″N 2°18′06″W / 51.37806°N 2.30167°W |
| Built | 1813 |
| Governing body | Kennet and Avon Canal Trust |
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Listed Building – Grade II
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| Official name: Claverton Pumping Station | |
| Designated | 14 August 1984 |
| Reference no. | 399483 |
 Location of Claverton Pumping Station in Somerset
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Claverton Pumping Station in the village of Claverton, in the English county of Somerset, pumps water from the River Avon to the Kennet and Avon Canal using power from the flow of the River Avon. It is a grade II listed building.
The pumping station was built by John Rennie between 1809 and 1813 to overcome water supply problems on the canal. It uses a 24-foot (7 m) wide wooden breastshot water wheel to drive two Boulton and Watt 18-foot (5 m) long cast iron rocking beams, which power lift pumps to raise water 48 feet (15 m) up to the canal. The pumping station has undergone several modifications since its initial construction, including revising the wheel into two sections each 12 feet (3.7 m) wide separated by a 9-inch (23 cm) gap. The station's operational life ended in 1952, by which time its maintenance and repair had become uneconomical in the light of falling traffic on the canal.
In the 1960s and 1970s restoration was carried out by students from the University of Bath and the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust, who replaced and repaired the buildings and equipment and returned the pumping station to a functional state by 1978. It is now operated by volunteers from the Trust, open to the public as an industrial heritage museum.
At Claverton, the Kennet and Avon Canal is cut into the side of the Avon valley 48 feet (15 m) above the River Avon. The pumping station is located in a pump house built of Bath Stone, located at river level and separated from the canal by the Wessex Main Line. It was designed by John Rennie and built by Fox of Bristol. The pump house has a slate hipped roof. The wheelhouse projects to the west of the pump house and has weatherboard sides. The east gable wall has three doors allowing access to the wheel itself.
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