Urgent Appeal to Save Steam Museum's Great Engine House
Funds need to be raised by the middle of this month
Museum Director Hannah Harte in front of the Great Engine House
August 9, 2024
An urgent appeal for funds is being made by the London Museum of Water & Steam (LMWS).
The Grade 1 listed Great Engine House at the Georgian water pumping station in Brentford is home to the gigantic Grand Junction 100 Inch and 90 Inch engines.
This collection of stationary steam engines pumped clean water into the homes of millions of Londoners between 1838 and 1944.
Both three storeys high, these marvels of Victorian engineering were built powerful enough to supply water to areas of London as far as Notting Hill and Kensington, and to the upper floors in buildings – helping to transform London into the multi-storey city it is today. The 90 Inch was installed in 1846 and ran daily for over 100 years and the 100 Inch was on standby until 1954. Today the 90 Inch is one of the largest working beam engines of its type in the world.
The Museum is at the advanced stage of receiving a funding grant for a £2.8 million project to restore the building, however, it is required to raise a percentage of the grant by crowdfunding £50,000 by 16 August.
At the moment the appeal is falling short having reached just over half the total at the time of writing.
A funding and maintenance backlog has led to severe degradation of the 100 Inch and 90 Inch engines, and the Grade 1 listed Great Engine House. Covid lockdowns have accelerated the damage, due to a lack of people available to maintain the site coupled with little ventilation while closed, and the need for expensive scaffolding that the museum hasn’t been able to afford.
A recent site survey identified the Engine House as the priority building and a costed, full building condition survey shows a leaking roof structure, dry rot, blown and spalling render, corroded window frames and cracked glass, collapsed storm drains, loose plaster and paint finishes, and both engines are actively corroding and contain encapsulated asbestos lagging.
Unless work is undertaken in the next two years to stop deterioration, these historically significant machines could be lost, and central parts of the museum building will be closed off. The museum hopes through this project to return the 90 inch engine to steam, which will make it more financially resilient and vastly enhance the museum’s visitor experience.
Pledges must be made by 16 August at 10:14am.
Described by DCMS as “the most important historic site of the water supply industry in Britain” the LMWS shares the history, science and the stories behind London’s public water supply.
The project will:
Return the building to a watertight condition
Reduce carbon emissions and other pollutant effects
Remove damaging past repairs
Conserve the engines and improve environmental conditions
Improve accessibility
Remove asbestos containing materials
To make a pledge to the crowdfunding appeal click here.
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