Boughton Pumping Station
| Boughton Pumping Station | |
|
Nottinghamshire | |
|---|---|
 Boughton Pumping Station | |
| Type: | Pumping station |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SK667692 |
| Location: | 53°12’58"N, 1°0’5"W |
| Village: | Boughton |
| History | |
| Built 1905 | |
| For: | Nottingham Corporation Water Department by William Beedham Starr |
| Pumping station | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Converted to venue and offices |
| Website: | www.thepumpinghouse.com |
Boughton Pumping Station is a former water pumping station at the edge of Boughton in the midst of Nottinghamshire, which operated from 1905 until the 1980s.
History
The station stands at the edge of Sherwood Forest. It opened in 1905 together with an associated Superintendent’s house and five workers' cottages which were maintained to a meticulously high standard. The Pumphouse was commissioned by the Nottingham Corporation Water Department and was capable of pumping 20 million gallons a day through 15¾ miles of 30-inch pipe from the underground sandstone aquifer. There were two Manhattan-type triple-expansion steam engines from Ashton Frost of Blackburn, with standby 130 hp Davy horizontal engine and triple-expansion engine by Fairbairn Lawson Combe Barbour.
The Blackburn Engine House, the main pumphouse, was designed by William Beedham Starr and included a flamboyant huge brick chimney which forms a distinctive local landmark.
The Boughton Pumping Station later passed into the hands of Severn Trent Water. The engine house was Grade II listed in 1974.
Decline and regeneration
By 1980 the station was obsolete and in need of major repair. In 1988 the uncertain future of the building took a sudden turn for the worst when it suffered mining subsidence. The damage to the buildings and surrounding landscape was alarming and the future of the building looked bleak. Boughton Pumping Station Partnership Trust secured funding to restore the buildings and by 1998 the works were complete.
Since its completion in 1998 the Station has been operated as a Business Centre by several previous owners, Boughton Pumping Station Trust, Nottinghamshire County Council and NE Group.
In April 2010 it was privately purchased by Horizon Investments and re-launched as Blackburn House after the original Blackburn Engines which enabled it to pump water from its well to the homes in the City of Nottingham.
The Pumping Station was transformed by new owners in 2016 into a new venue primarily for weddings, but also for corporate and private events, as well as filming and photography location.[1] The Pumping House is managed by Xcite Venues [2] and is part of the Vibration Group.
The Pumping Station has appeared in a variety of magazines including I Do,[3] You and Your Wedding,[4] Save the Date,[5]and Love our Wedding.[6]
See also
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Boughton Pumping Station) |
References
- ↑ The Pumping House
- ↑ Xcite Venues
- ↑ I Do Magazine "I Do Magazine Wedding Fayres". 2016. http://www.ido-magazine.co.uk/derbyshire-nottinghamshire/wedding-fayres.
- ↑ You and Your Wedding article "You and Your Wedding". 2017. http://www.youandyourwedding.co.uk/ideas/mood-boards/wedding-theme-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/22237-31.html.
- ↑ Save the Date article "Save the Date Magazine". 2017. https://savethedatemagazine.co.uk/blog/willy-wonka-pumping-house/.
- ↑ Love our Wedding article "Love our Wedding". 2017. http://www.loveourweddingmag.com/2017/03/07/iconic-bride-winter-photoshoot/.