A historic Nottinghamshire pumping station is looking to build a new visitor centre to better protect and celebrate a number of mechanical relics from Nottinghamshire’s past.
Papplewick Pumping Station, in Rigg Lane, Ravenshead, is regarded by English Heritage as the most complete Victorian fresh water pumping station in the country.
It has all of its original features, machinery and grounds, including the large ornate pump house which still has two working beam engines.
The station was constructed between 1882 and 1885 and provided clean fresh water to people in Nottingham for almost 100 years.
It was in continuous operation until 1969, before opening as a museum in 1975 under a trust.
Under new plans, submitted to Gedling Borough Council, a new multifunctional space to facilitate an exhibition and dining area could be created.
An open-air café dining area would be complimented by an adjoining exhibition space, separated by a glass wall.
Ashley Smart, museum director, said he wants to better protect two steam engines that are currently exposed to the elements.
The exhibition space would also feature new graphic panels and interactive screens to showcase the historical machinery on display.
“The new building would house two pieces of machinery that have for many, many years been exposed to the outside weather,” he said.
“It would tidy up that area and help us restore the engines for people to enjoy.
“The engines run but because they are exposed to the outside elements it is a lot of work to keep them running.
“We currently have them under a lorry trailer canvass to keep the weather off, but the idea is that they will be properly housed. These two main engines are from Nottingham’s past. They show the development of steam over the years.
“The next step now is to get the money. We might approach the Heritage Lottery Fund and package it up as helping restore the engines and make them more accessible.”
Mr Smart said he hoped the plans would be completed within the next two to three years.
More than £500,000 was recently spent on the pumping station in a major restoration project that began in February last year.
The funding was awarded by Arts Council England’s Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) after the site was added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register in 2023.
The beam engines, a type of steam engine where an overhead beam is used to apply force from a vertical piston to a connecting rod, are steamed several times a year.
Visitor facilities were built in 1991, and a major restoration of the beam engines and pump house was completed in 2005, following a £1.6m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
As well as the beam engines, the site houses several other engines, which are also demonstrated on steaming days.
One is a colliery winding engine from the nearby Linby Colliery, which was built by Robey & Co of Lincoln in 1922. It is the only operational steam-powered winder in Britain, planning documents say.
Outside the main pump building is a triple expansion engine, made by the Kilmarnock firm of Glenfield & Co. in 1897.
It was used at Stanton Ironworks near Ilkeston, where it supplied the site with hydraulic power.
In 2002, two engines were obtained by the museum from the Player’s Tobacco Factory, and a single-cylinder oil engine, which formerly generated power for the arc lights on the projector at Bolsover Cinema, is also kept at the museum.
• Colwick business donates £1,000 to Papplewick Pumping Station
