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London Museum of Water & Steam facts for kids

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London Museum of Water & Steam
London Museum of Water & Steam entrance.jpg
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Established 1975; 50 years ago (1975)
Location Brentford, England
Public transit access National Rail Kew Bridge

The London Museum of Water & Steam is a special museum that opened in 1975. It was first called the Kew Bridge Steam Museum. After some big improvements, it got its new name in 2014.

This museum is located at the old Kew Bridge Pumping Station in Brentford, West London, England. It's right by the River Thames and Kew Bridge. The main focus of the museum is a huge collection of old steam engines. These engines were used to pump water from 1820 to 1910. It has the world's largest group of working Cornish engines, including the giant Grand Junction 90 inch engine. This is the biggest working engine of its kind anywhere! The museum is also an important stop on the European Route of Industrial Heritage, which connects famous industrial sites across Europe.

The museum officially reopened its doors on March 22, 2014.

How the Museum Started

Standpipe Tower, Kew Waterworks
The tall Standpipe Tower

The Kew Bridge Pumping Station first opened in 1838. It was built by the Grand Junction Waterworks Company. They decided to move from an older station because the water quality there wasn't good. Over the years, the site grew. It eventually had six steam pumping engines. It also had four diesel pumps and four electric pumps.

The steam engines stopped being used for daily work in 1944. However, two were kept ready in case they were needed until 1958. That year, the Harvey & Co. 100 inch engine was run one last time. This was the final time steam power was used to pump drinking water at the site.

The Metropolitan Water Board chose not to get rid of these old steam engines. They decided to save them for a future museum. This idea came to life in 1974. A group of volunteers, who had helped restore another pumping station, formed the Kew Bridge Engines Trust. This trust is a registered charity.

Today, the museum is known around the world for its working steam pumping engines. It reminds us of the many pumping stations that used to be all over London and the UK. In 1999, the UK government said Kew Bridge was "the most important historic site of the water supply industry in Britain".

The Kew Bridge Engine Trust and Water Supply Museum Limited has three main goals:

  • To fix and keep the five historic beam engines at the Kew Bridge site.
  • To add other important water pumping engines to their collection.
  • To create a museum about London's water supply history.

In 1997, the museum won an Engineering Heritage Award. This award came from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and Britain's Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). They won a second IMechE award in 2008 for fixing the Bull engine. This makes the museum one of only 12 places to win more than one of these special awards.

Amazing Engines to See

90 inch engine valves,Kew Bridge Steam Museum
The steam valves of the huge 90-inch beam engine

This museum has the world's largest collection of Cornish cycle beam engines. One of the most impressive is the Grand Junction 90 inch engine. It's the biggest working beam engine in the world! Its cylinder is 90 inches wide. This giant machine pumped water to London for 98 years. It stands over 40 feet tall and weighs about 250 tons. The famous writer Charles Dickens even called it "a monster"!

The museum also has several other working Cornish cycle beam engines. You can see other working steam engines too. There's also a three-cylinder Allen diesel engine that you can watch run.

Here is a list of some of the pumping engines at the museum:

  • Sandys, Carne and Vivyan (from Copperhouse Foundry) 90 inch
  • Harvey & Co. 100 inch
  • Bull engine
  • Maudslay engine
  • Boulton & Watt (also called West Cornish engine)
  • James Simpson & Co. (also called Waddon engine)
  • Easton and Amos engine
  • Hathorn Davey & Co. triple expansion engine
  • James Kay, (also called Dancer's End engine)
  • Allen diesel engine
  • Hindley waterwheel

On certain event days, the museum even runs an 1860 Shand Mason Fire Engine!

The Museum Railway

Cloister, Museum locomotive
The "Cloister" locomotive (on loan) passing the museum garden

The museum has a fun 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge railway. In 2009, a new steam locomotive called "Thomas Wicksteed" started running on it. This engine is named after the engineer Thomas Wicksteed. Before that, the railway used different locomotives that were borrowed. The track is about 400 yards long and goes around the Kew Bridge site. You can ride the passenger trains on weekends and during special events.

This railway wasn't part of the original waterworks at Kew Bridge. However, it was inspired by similar railways at other big waterworks in the UK. For example, the Metropolitan Water Board Railway used to run between Hampton and the Kempton Park waterworks. A small part of that railway is now the Kempton Steam Railway. The London Museum of Water & Steam has even helped the Kempton Steam Railway with its restoration.

Railway Locomotives

Locomotive Name Locomotive Type Year Built Builder Works Number Notes
Thomas Wicksteed 0-4-0ST 2009 Hunslet 3906 This is a steam locomotive. It's a Kerr Stuart Wren class engine.
Alister 4wDM 1958 Lister-Blackstone 44052 This is a diesel locomotive. It used to be at the Bala Lake Railway.

Buildings at the Museum

The museum site has many old buildings that are very important. They are called Grade I and Grade II listed buildings. This means they are protected because of their historical or architectural value.

The first engine house, built in 1837, is a Grade I listed building. It holds the Bull, Boulton & Watt, and Maudslay engines. The Great Engine House, which holds the 90 inch and 100 inch engines, is also Grade I listed. It was built in two parts, in 1845 and 1869.

The Boiler House, built in 1837, is a Grade II listed building. It now holds the rotative steam engines. Other buildings, like the Gatehouse and Boundary Wall, are also Grade II listed.

Some of the other buildings include a working forge (where metal is shaped with heat) and a workshop that uses belts to power tools. These areas are used by different artists and creative people today.

The Tall Tower

The most noticeable part of the museum is its 200-foot-tall Victorian standpipe tower. This isn't a chimney! It holds two systems of tall pipes. Water was pumped through these pipes before it went into the main water supply for homes. The tower is made of brick and has an Italian design. It was built in 1867 to replace an older metal structure. It is a Grade I listed building. The tower is usually not open for visitors to go inside.

Seen on TV and Film

The museum has been used as a filming location for many TV shows and movies. You might have seen it in episodes of EastEnders, The Bill, and Doctor Who (the episode "Remembrance of the Daleks"). It was also featured in the TV series Industrial Age. Many music videos and films, like Jude Law's The Wisdom of Crocodiles, have been filmed here. From 1991 to 1995, it was even the background for the opening titles of the BBC music show Top of the Pops. After its big reopening in 2014, the museum was used for the fourth episode of the TV series PREMature.

See also