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Crossness Pumping Station

1865 establishments in EnglandCharities based in LondonCharles Henry Driver buildingsEngvarB from June 2015Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Bexley
Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of BexleyGrade I listed industrial buildingsInfrastructure completed in 1865London water infrastructureMuseums in the London Borough of BexleyPreserved beam enginesSewage pumping stationsSteam museums in LondonStructures on the Heritage at Risk registerThames WaterWaterworks museums in England
Exterior of Crossness Pumping Station
Exterior of Crossness Pumping Station

The Crossness Pumping Station is a former sewage pumping station designed by the Metropolitan Board of Works's chief engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette and architect Charles Henry Driver. It is located at Crossness Sewage Treatment Works, at the eastern end of the Southern Outfall Sewer and the Ridgeway path in the London Borough of Bexley. Constructed between 1859 and 1865 by William Webster, as part of Bazalgette's redevelopment of the London sewerage system, it features spectacular ornamental cast ironwork, that Nikolaus Pevsner described as "a masterpiece of engineering – a Victorian cathedral of ironwork". It is adjacent to Erith Marshes, a grazing marsh, the northern part of which is designated as Crossness Nature Reserve. This provides a valuable habitat for creatures ranging from moths to small amphibians and water voles.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Crossness Pumping Station (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Crossness Pumping Station
Bazalgette Way, London

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Wikipedia: Crossness Pumping StationContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.509142 ° E 0.138418 °
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Crossness Sewage Treatment Works

Bazalgette Way
SE2 9AR London (London Borough of Bexley)
England, United Kingdom
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Exterior of Crossness Pumping Station
Exterior of Crossness Pumping Station
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Southern Outfall Sewer
Southern Outfall Sewer

The Southern Outfall Sewer is a major sewer taking sewage from the southern area of central London to Crossness in south-east London. Flows from three interceptory sewers combine at a pumping station in Deptford and then run under Greenwich, Woolwich, Plumstead and across Erith marshes. The Outfall Sewer was designed by Joseph Bazalgette after an outbreak of cholera in 1853 and "The Big Stink" of 1858. Work started on the sewer in 1860 and it was finally opened on 4 April 1865 by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales.Until this time, central London's drains were built primarily to cope with rain water, and the growing use of flush toilets frequently meant these became overloaded, flushing mud, shingle, sewage and industrial effluent into the River Thames. Bazalgette's London sewerage system project included the construction of intercepting sewers north and south of the Thames; the Northern Outfall Sewer diverts flows away from the Thames north of the river. South of the river, three major interceptor sewers were constructed: The high-level sewer starts at Herne Hill, and heads eastward under Peckham and New Cross to a pumping station at Deptford. The middle-level sewer starts on Balham Hill and runs under Clapham High Street, under Stockwell and Brixton, through Camberwell to Deptford. The low-level sewer begins in Putney and runs through Battersea, Vauxhall, and under the Old Kent Road and Bermondsey to Deptford.At Deptford pumping station the sewage is lifted by 18.9 ft (5.76 m) to the next section of the sewer which then runs east under Greenwich and Woolwich. From Plumstead to Crossness Pumping Station, the covered sewer forms the southern boundary of Thamesmead and has been landscaped as an elevated footpath called the Ridgeway (similar to The Greenway built over the Northern Outfall Sewer).