Claymills Pumping Station facts for kids
The Claymills Pumping Station is a special place in Burton upon Trent, England. It's a very old pumping station from the Victorian era. Its main job was to pump sewage (wastewater) away from the town. This important work helped keep the town clean and healthy.
The station was designed by James Mansergh. It started working in 1885. The sewage was pumped to a special farm in Egginton. Today, Claymills Pumping Station is a museum. It shows how people used to manage waste a long time ago.
Contents
Powerful Pumping Engines
The heart of Claymills Pumping Station is its four huge steam engines. These are called 'beam pumping engines'. They were built in 1885 by a company called Gimson and Company in Leicester.
These engines are arranged in pairs. They sit in two separate buildings. A central boiler house provides the steam. Each engine is very similar. They use steam to move a giant metal beam up and down. This movement then powers the pumps.
How the Engines Work
Each engine has two main parts called cylinders. One is for high-pressure steam, and the other for low-pressure steam. The high-pressure cylinder is 24 inches wide and moves 6 feet. The low-pressure cylinder is 38 inches wide and moves 8 feet.
The steam pushes parts inside these cylinders. This makes the huge beam move. The beam is like a giant seesaw. It is over 26 feet long and weighs 13 tons! This powerful movement is what pumped the sewage.
Engines Running Today
All four of these amazing steam engines are still working! They run about 14 weekends each year. The station now has 33 original steam engines that can still operate.
The main pumping engines worked until 1971. Then they were stopped. But volunteers have worked hard to bring them back to life. The 'D' engine started running again in 2001. The 'C' engine followed in 2002. The 'B' engine was restored in 2017. Finally, the 'A' engine was brought back in 2023.
A modern sewage treatment plant is now next to the old pumping station. It continues the work of cleaning water today.
Making Electricity: The Dynamo House
The pumping station also has a special building called the Dynamo House. This is where they made electricity for the site. It has two steam-powered machines called dynamos. A dynamo is a machine that turns movement into electricity.
One dynamo was built in 1889. It was driven by a Buxton & Thornley engine. This dynamo made 50 amps of electricity. The other dynamo was made at Claymills in 1906. It was smaller, making 30 amps. Both dynamos produced 200 volts of direct current (DC). They have both been restored and can run again.
Powering the Station
These dynamos provided all the electricity for the pumping station. They also powered the lights in the workers' cottages nearby. The larger 50-amp dynamo was used at night. The smaller 30-amp unit ran during the day. This system supplied all the site's electricity until 1971.
The engine that powers the 30-amp dynamo was likely built right there at Claymills. It's a special twin-cylinder engine. The people who look after the station still have the original wooden patterns used to make parts for this engine.
The Workshop
In 1900, a large workshop was added to the Claymills site. This workshop was very important. It was used to repair and maintain all the machinery at the pumping station. It also served as the main workshop for the local council until 1971.
After 1971, all the tools and machines were removed. But the Claymills Pumping Station trust has worked hard to get most of them back. The workshop has been fully restored. It is now a working example of a Victorian workshop.
The Boiler House
Steam is essential for the engines at Claymills. It is made in the Boiler House. This building contains five large Lancashire boilers. The first boilers were made by Robert Stephenson and Co.
Normally, only two of the five boilers would be working at any time. One would be kept hot and ready. The other two would be undergoing maintenance. The boilers were rotated every eight weeks.
Boiler Upgrades and Fuel
The original boilers were made of wrought iron. In 1936, they were replaced with new steel boilers. These new boilers were made by John Thomson and Co. The change was done one boiler at a time. This way, the pumping station could keep working without stopping.
The boilers use coal as their fuel. At first, workers had to shovel coal by hand. But in 1908, steam-powered machines called mechanical stokers were installed. These machines automatically fed coal into the boilers. A better version of these stokers was added around 1920.
These mechanical stokers are still used today when the station is running. The trust has also been trying out Biomass as a fuel source.
See also
- Listed buildings in Burton (civil parish)
