Abbey Mills Pumping Station

Abbey Mills Pumping Station
The main building in 2022
Abbey Mills Pumping Station is located in London Borough of Newham
Abbey Mills Pumping Station
Location in London Borough of Newham
Alternative names"The Cathedral of Sewage"
General information
Statusin use
Typepumping station
Architectural styleItalian Gothic
AddressAbbey Lane, Mill Meads
Town or cityLondon
CountryEngland
Coordinates51°31′51″N 0°00′03″W / 51.5307°N 0.000835°W / 51.5307; -0.000835
Construction started1865
Completed1868
Design and construction
Architect(s)Charles Driver, Edmund Cooper
EngineerJoseph Bazalgette
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated6 November 1974
Reference no.1190476

Abbey Mills Pumping Station is a sewage pumping station in Mill Meads, East London, operated by Thames Water. The pumping station lifts sewage from the London sewerage system into the Northern Outfall Sewer and the Lee Tunnel, which both run to Beckton Sewage Treatment Works.

The original pumping station, designed by engineer Joseph Bazalgette, Edmund Cooper, and architect Charles Driver, was built between 1865 and 1868, housing eight beam engines by Rothwell & Co. of Bolton. Two engines on each arm of a cruciform plan, with an elaborate Byzantine style, described as The Cathedral of Sewage.[1] Another of Bazalgette's designs, Crossness Pumping Station, is located south of the River Thames at Crossness, at the end of the Southern Outfall Sewer.

A modern sewage pumping station (Station F) was completed in 1997[2] about 200 metres (660 ft) south of the original station.

  1. ^ McConnell, Sara (4 January 2006). "An Olympic walk in East London". The Times. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2011. ...one of London's most startling sites – Abbey Mills Pumping Station with its red and green Moorish domes. Built in 1863 as part of London's then new sewage system, it was nicknamed the Cathedral of Sewage.
  2. ^ "ABBEY MILLS PUMPING STATION - Allies and Morrison". alliesandmorrison.com. Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.