Status in use Address Abbey Lane Completed 1868 Construction started 1865 | Country England Opened 1868 | |
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Alternative names "The Cathedral of Sewage" Similar Crossness Pumping Station, Northern Outfall Sewer, Tideway, Thames Tunnel, Abbey Mills Mosque | ||
Abbey mills pumping station stratford east london
The original Abbey Mills Pumping Station, in Abbey Lane, London, is a sewage pumping station, designed by engineer Joseph Bazalgette, Edmund Cooper, and architect Charles Driver. It was built between 1865 and 1868, housing eight beam engines by Rothwell & Co. of Bolton. Two engines on each arm of a cruciform plan, with an elaborate Byzantine style, described as The Cathedral of Sewage. Another of Bazalgette's designs, Crossness Pumping Station, is located south of the River Thames at Crossness, at the end of the Southern Outfall Sewer. A modern pumping station (F Station) was completed in 1997 about 200 metres (660 ft) south of the original station.
Contents
- Abbey mills pumping station stratford east london
- Map of Abbey Mills Pumping Station London E15 2RW UK
- A visit to abbey mills pumping station
- History
- Purpose
- Modern pumping station
- Lee Tunnel
- As a film location
- References
Map of Abbey Mills Pumping Station, London E15 2RW, UK
A visit to abbey mills pumping station
History
The pumping station was built at the site of an earlier watermill owned by the former Stratford Langthorne Abbey, from which it gained its name. It was first recorded as Wiggemulne in 1312, i.e., "the mill of a man called Wicga", an Old English personal name, and subsequently became associated with the abbey. The Abbey lay between the Channelsea River and Marsh Lane (Manor Road). It was dissolved in 1538. By 1840, the North Woolwich railway ran through the site, and it began to be used to establish factories, and ultimately the sewage pumping stations.
Purpose
The pumps raised the sewage in the London sewerage system between the two Low Level Sewers and the Northern Outfall Sewer, which was built in the 1860s to carry the increasing amount of sewage produced in London away from the centre of the city.
Two Moorish styled chimneys – unused since steam power had been replaced by electric motors in 1933 – were demolished in 1941, as it was feared that a bomb strike from German bombs might topple them on to the pumping station.
The building still houses electric pumps – to be used in reserve for the new facility next door.
The main building is grade II* listed and there are many grade II-listed ancillary buildings, including the stumps of the demolished chimneys.
Modern pumping station
The modern pumping station (F Station) was designed by architects Allies and Morrison. The old building (A Station) has electrical pumps for use as a standby; the modern station is one of the three principal London pumping stations dealing with foul water.
One of the world's largest installation of drum screens to treat sewage was constructed as part of the Thames Tideway Scheme. The site is managed and operated by Thames Water.
Lee Tunnel
Lee Tunnel is a sewage tunnel that travels from Abbey Mills to Beckton Sewage Works and is designed to handle the 16 million tons of overflow sewage that was previously discharged into the River Lea each year. The tunnel boring machine's name, 'Busy Lizzie', was chosen via a competition open to local school children. Thames Water began construction in 2012 and on 28 January 2016, in a visit to the operations, London mayor Boris Johnson opened the tunnel for service.
As a film location
B Station represented Arkham Asylum in the 2005 film Batman Begins. and was also used as the location for the "Cosy Prisons" video shoot by Norwegian pop band a-ha on 4 March 2006.
In 2007, the second show in season 1 of Derren Brown's Trick or Treat series was partially filmed at the site in which two of three paintings were cut with a knife as part of a trick.
The disused and stripped out C Station was used in the 2008 film, Franklyn.
The C Station was used in Series 2 Episode 4 of the TV series Primeval.
In 2009, the station was used by British rock band Coldplay as a set for the music video to their song "Lovers In Japan".