Huge Funding Boost for Water and Steam Museum

Government providing £2.6million for Great Engine Room project

Museum Director Hannah Harte in front of the Great Engine House

February 21, 2025

The London Museum of Water and Steam (LMWS) has received a huge boost with the announcement of £2.6million funding from the government.

The grant will enable the completion of the restoration of the Great Engine Room. It is the museum’s share of a £270million package for hundreds of arts venues, museums, libraries and the heritage sector across the country. LMWS is one of 29 local museums being supported including the Foundling Museum in central London.

The LMWS will be using the money to return the Great Engine House to a watertight condition, improve environmental conditions and remove damaging past repairs.

In mid-2024, the museum launched the 'Great Engine House Project' to restore its Grade I listed Great Engine House and the historic Grand Junction 100 Inch and 90 Inch beam engines. The museum had earlier been promised a £2.8 million grant for the project and raised £56,000 through a crowdfunder last year.

The stationary steam engines pumped clean water into the homes of millions of Londoners including parts of Kensington and Notting Hill between 1838 and 1944.

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.

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.

The Arts Everywhere Fund, which is supporting LMWS, details of which were announced this Thursday (20 February) by Lisa Nandy MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport is described by the Labour government as the next step in its Plan for Change to help boost local economies, provide opportunities for creative skills and support heritage and cultural sectors. It is the first step in the Creative Industry Sector Plan, part of the government’s Industrial Strategy.

Funding for the creative sector due to be provided from April also includes a new £85 million Creative Foundations Fund to support urgent capital works to keep venues across the country up and running and a fifth round of the Museum Estate and Development Fund worth £25 million, which will support museums to undertake infrastructure projects, and tackle urgent maintenance backlogs. Additional support will be available through a new Museum Renewal Fund and extra money for Heritage at Risk. An additional £120 million to continue the Public Bodies Infrastructure Fund, which will help national cultural public institutions address essential works to their estate. There has also been an a 5% increase to the budgets of all national museums and galleries.

Lisa Nandy MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport said, “Arts and culture help us understand the world we live in. They shape and define society and are enjoyed by people in every part of our country. They are the building blocks of our world-leading creative industries and make a huge contribution towards boosting growth and breaking down barriers to opportunities for young people to learn the creative skills they need to succeed.

“The funding we are announcing today will allow the arts to continue to flourish across Britain, creating good jobs and growth by fixing the foundations in our cultural venues, museums, libraries and heritage institutions.

“As a government that is on your side, our Plan for Change will ensure that arts and cultural institutions truly are for everyone, everywhere.”

The Culture Secretary also confirmed the advisory panel of experts who will be supporting Baroness Margaret Hodge with her independent review of Arts Council England, as well as the scope of the review within the newly agreed Terms of Reference.

Natasha Irons MP, Labour Mission Champion for London, said, “I’m delighted that both the London Museum of Water and Steam in Brentford and The Foundling Museum in Camden have received funding, allowing them to carry out crucial repairs and continue their excellent work.

“In London and across the country, Labour is investing in arts and culture for all.”