Claverton Pumping Station

Last updated

Claverton Pumping Station
Claverton Pumping Station with millpond.jpg
Claverton Pumping Station with the pump house on the left, the wheelhouse to the right and the millpond in the foreground
Type Pumping station
Location Claverton, Somerset, England
Coordinates 51°22′41″N2°18′06″W / 51.37806°N 2.30167°W / 51.37806; -2.30167
Built1813
Architect John Rennie
Governing bodyClaverton Pumping Station Group
Owner Canal and River Trust
Listed Building – Grade I
Official nameClaverton Pumping Station
Designated3 April 2019
Reference no. 1214608
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameClaverton Pumping Station
Designated14 August 1984 [1]
Reference no.399483
Somerset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Claverton Pumping Station in Somerset

Claverton Pumping Station in the village of Claverton, in the English county of Somerset, pumps water from the River Avon to the Kennet and Avon Canal using power from the flow of the river. It is a Grade I listed building, [1] having been upgraded from Grade II in 2019. [2]

Contents

The pumping station was built by John Rennie between 1809 and 1813 to overcome water supply problems on the canal. It uses a 24-foot (7 m) wide wooden breastshot water wheel to drive two Boulton and Watt 18-foot (5 m) long cast iron rocking beams, which power lift pumps to raise water 48 feet (15 m) up to the canal. The pumping station has undergone several modifications since its initial construction, including revising the wheel into two sections each 12 feet (3.7 m) wide separated by a 9-inch (23 cm) gap. The station's operational life ended in 1952, by which time its maintenance and repair had become uneconomical in the light of falling traffic on the canal.

In the 1960s and 1970s restoration was carried out by students from the University of Bath and the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust, who replaced and repaired the buildings and equipment and returned the pumping station to a functional state by 1978. It is now owned by the Canal and River Trust and maintained by the Claverton Pumping Station Trust CIO, [3] open to the public as an industrial heritage museum.

Description

The interior, showing waterwheel and gearing Claverton Pumping Station Interior.JPG
The interior, showing waterwheel and gearing

At Claverton, the Kennet and Avon Canal is cut into the side of the Avon valley 48 feet (15 m) above the River Avon. The pumping station is in a pump house built of Bath Stone, [4] which is at river level and separated from the canal by the Wessex Main Line. It was designed by John Rennie and built by Fox of Bristol. The pump house has a slate hipped roof. The wheelhouse projects to the west of the pump house and has weatherboard sides. The east gable wall has three doors allowing access to the wheel itself. [1]

Water is diverted from the river by Warleigh Weir, about 200 yards (183 m) upstream. The water flows to the pumping station down a 30-foot (9.1 m) wide leat, which is crossed by a single segmental arch bridge with a central keystone. [5] The water passes over depressing sluices which can be raised or lowered by hand cranking, and then powers a breastshot water wheel. The 24-foot (7 m) wide wheel is in two sections, each 12 feet (3.7 m) wide and 17 feet (5 m) in diameter, with a 9-inch (23 cm) gap between them. [6] [7] The wheel has 48 wooden starts on each of the six cast iron rims. These starts support 96 float boards each of which is 13 inches (33 cm) by 1 inch (2.5 cm) by 12 feet (3.7 m), and is paired with a 11 inches (28 cm) seal board bolted directly to the rim. The original timber selection for the wheel is not known, but since 1983 the starts have been made from Iroko due to its longevity even in conditions where it is cycled between submerged and dry due to intermittent running. [8] The breastshot wheel is vertically mounted, and falling water strikes the blades. Breastshot wheels are less efficient than backshot or overshot wheels, [9] but more efficient than undershot wheels.

One of the rocking beams by Boulton and Watt Claverton Pumping Station rocking beam by Boulton and Watt.jpg
One of the rocking beams by Boulton and Watt

At full power the wheel uses 2  tons (2  tonnes) of water per second and rotates five times a minute. The water wheel drives a flexible coupling to a pit wheel with a diameter of 16 feet 3 inches (4.95 m), which has 408 (204 pairs) hand-fitted wooden teeth that mesh with a 5 feet 1 inch (1.55 m) cast iron gear, increasing the speed to 16 rpm. From there, cranks drive vertical connecting rods that transfer the energy to two 18-foot (5 m) long cast iron rocking beams made by Boulton and Watt. Each beam drives an 18-inch (0.46 m) diameter lift pump, which also takes its supply from the mill leat. Each pump stroke raises 50  imperial gallons (230  litres) of water to the canal via 150 feet (46 m) of 19-inch (0.48 m) diameter cast iron pipe. With the sluice fully depressed the flow is 73 ft³/s and due to the build-up of spent water in the tail-race the working head is reduced to 4 feet 6 inches (1.37 m), giving a potential power of 3434 hp. The output power, calculated from the water lifted into the canal per minute, is 24 hp representing an efficiency of 62%. [8]

History

Construction

Claverton Pumping Station
BSicon uCONTg.svg
River Avon to Bristol
BSicon umKRZu.svg
BSicon STR+r.svg
Railway to Bristol (GWML)
BSicon uSTR.svg
BSicon BHF.svg
Bath Spa Railway Station
BSicon uABZgl.svg
BSicon mKRZo.svg
BSicon uSTR+r.svg
BSicon uSTR.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon uxWEIRf.svg
Pulteney Weir, Bath
BSicon uLOCKSd.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon uexSTR.svg
Bath Locks (7 - 13)
BSicon uTUNNEL1.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon uexSTR.svg
Cleveland House Tunnel
BSicon uSTR.svg
BSicon ABZgl.svg
BSicon uxmKRZu.svg
BSicon STRq.svg
Railway to London (GWML)
BSicon uSTR.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon uexABZgl.svg
BSicon uexSTR+r.svg
BSicon ueTEEnl.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon uexnSTRq.svg
BSicon uMILL.svg
BSicon uexSTR.svg
Pumping Station and feeder
BSicon uSTR.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon uxWEIRr.svg
BSicon uexSTRr.svg
Weir
BSicon uFABZgl+l.svg
BSicon mKRZu.svg
BSicon uxKRZu.svg
BSicon uSTR+r.svg
Dundas Aqueduct
BSicon uFGATEd.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon uexSTR.svg
BSicon uSTRl.svg
Kennet and Avon Canal
BSicon ugENDE.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon uexSTRl.svg
BSicon uexSTRq.svg
River Avon
BSicon gSTR.svg
BSicon STRl.svg
BSicon STRq.svg
BSicon STRq.svg
Bath - Bradford-upon-Avon Rly
BSicon gCONTf.svg
Somerset Coal Canal

The idea of an east to west waterway link across southern England was first mentioned in Elizabethan times, between 1558 and 1603, [10] to take advantage of the proximity of the rivers Avon and Thames, only 3 miles (4.8 km) apart at their closest. Plans for a waterway were shelved until the early 18th century. In 1723 the Kennet Navigation through Reading opened. The Avon navigation from Bristol to Bath was opened in 1727. [11] In 1788 the so-called "Western Canal" was proposed to improve trade and communication links to towns such as Hungerford, Marlborough, Wiltshire, Calne, Chippenham and Melksham. The following year the engineers Barns, Simcock and Weston submitted a proposed route for this canal, although there were doubts about the adequacy of the water supply. The name was changed from Western Canal to Kennet and Avon Canal to avoid confusion with the Grand Western Canal, which was being proposed at the same time. [12]

In 1793 a further survey was conducted by John Rennie, and the route of the canal was altered to take a more southerly course through Great Bedwyn, Devizes, Trowbridge and Newbury. The proposed route was accepted by the Kennet and Avon Canal Company. In July 1793 Rennie suggested further alterations to the route, including the construction of the Bruce Tunnel in the Savernake Forest. [12] On 17 April 1794 the Kennet and Avon Canal Act received the Royal Assent and construction began.

The new route added several locks to the canal, making water supply problems more severe. Because of the way the system of locks works, water is lost from the upper part of a canal each time a vessel passes through. This is a particular issue for the pound between Bradford Lock at Bradford on Avon and the Bath Locks, where a series of locks need to be opened each time a vessel passes. Most lock gates are not watertight, therefore some water leaks from the higher levels of the canal to those lower down. The water has to be replaced, or eventually the upper levels of the canal would not hold enough water to be navigable. Canals are usually fed by diverting water from streams and rivers into their upper parts, but if no suitable source is available or sufficient, a pumping station, such as the one at Claverton, can be used to maintain the water level. [13] Crofton Pumping Station, to the east near Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire, was built to supply water to the summit pound of the canal; it opened in 1810 but, unlike Claverton, was powered by steam. [14]

Protracted negotiations over water rights with the owners of Saltford Brass Mill and around 30 other mills on the river between Bath and Bristol [15] [16] delayed construction until 1809; the wheel was installed in March 1810. Further delays relating to obtaining specific items of machinery meant that the pumping station did not open until early 1813, and until then boats were prohibited from using Bath Locks during periods of low rainfall. [17]

Operation and decline

Gearing and the sluice cranks Claverton Pumping Station gearing and sluice cranks.jpg
Gearing and the sluice cranks

The pumping station operated continuously, providing water for the increasing traffic on the canal. The width of the water wheel, which was supported at either end, meant that the middle of the wheel sagged, putting strain on the bearings and stays. In the 1840s the trussing was changed from stays to tension rods to strengthen and lighten the wheel, along with improvements to the pumps. The changes to the wheel were unsuccessful, and in the 1850s a central bearing was added, dividing the wheel in two. [18]

The opening of the Great Western Railway in 1841 led to a significant decline in the canal's traffic, even though the canal company lowered tariffs. [19] In 1852 the railway company took over the canal's operation. In 1877 the canal recorded a deficit of £1,920 and never subsequently made a profit. [20] The Somerset Coal Canal and Wilts & Berks Canal, which each supplied some of the trade to the Kennet and Avon, including freight from the Somerset coalfield, closed in 1904 and 1906 respectively. [21] At Claverton various minor repairs were needed to the wheel and pump, and the wheel had to be levelled at regular intervals during the later part of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The 408 "green oak" teeth on the pit wheel also had to be replaced several times. [18]

In 1926, following a loss of £18,041 the previous year, [22] the Great Western Railway sought to close the canal by obtaining a Ministry of Transport Order, but the move was resisted and the company charged with improving its maintenance of the canal. [19] After the Second World War the Transport Act 1947 meant that control of the canal passed to the British Transport Commission, but by the 1950s large sections had been closed because of poor lock maintenance following a breach in the bank west of the Avoncliff Aqueduct. [12] Claverton Pumping Station ceased operation in 1952, [23] after the failure of a number of the pit wheel's oak teeth. The British Transport Commission installed a 6-inch (15 cm) centrifugal pump to maintain the statutory minimum water level. [24]

Restoration

Close-up of the breastshot wheel Breastshot wheel at Claverton Pumping Station.jpg
Close-up of the breastshot wheel

After its closure the pumping station lay derelict until the late 1960s, when the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust proposed to the British Waterways Board that students from the University of Bath conduct a survey and report on the viability of returning the pumping station to working order. Work started in 1969 with engineering students from Bath providing the labour under the supervision of John Butt, and the trust providing the funding. Within the building, rotten woodwork was replaced and electric lighting installed. To allow work on the sluices and the waterwheel the leat was dammed. Specialist wood and metal work was undertaken by apprentices from the British Aircraft Corporation at Filton. By 1972 some progress had been made; John Butt retired and Derrick Dudden took over as restoration manager, with more volunteers from the Canal Trust helping to provide the labour. Silt was removed from the pond, hatches replaced and the waterwheel restored. The 408 oak teeth on the pit wheel were replaced and the pumps overhauled with new rope packing. By February 1976 all the machinery was working and water could be pumped from the river to the canal. The pumping station was formally re-opened in 1978. [25]

In 1981, British Waterways installed two 75-horsepower (56 kW) electric pumps and presented the old diesel pump to the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust for preservation. [26] Wessex Water Authority agreed to the extraction of 1,000,000 imperial gallons (4,500,000 L) per day from the Avon at Claverton to be pumped east; the cost of the pumps was £175,000. [27]

From 2012 to 2016 the pumping station underwent another restoration of the woodwork, which involved replacing all 288 starts on the waterwheel, and all 96 float and seal boards, as well as the 408 oak teeth of the pit wheel.

Claverton Pumping Station was awarded a National Transport Trust Red Wheel, recognising its historical importance to transport heritage in the United Kingdom. [28] The restoration work received an Engineering Heritage Award from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers [29] and won first place in the Heritage and Conservation category of the Living Waterways Awards 2019. [30]

Present day

The pumping station is maintained by volunteers and is open regularly except during winter maintenance periods. Depending on volunteer numbers, the wheel may be either static or pumping. Pumping days are advertised in advance, but are always subject to river conditions and ageing machinery. There is also a working model of the pumping station in the pumphouse.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Avon, Bristol</span> River in the south west of England

The River Avon is a river in the southwest of England. To distinguish it from a number of other rivers of the same name, it is often called the Bristol Avon. The name 'Avon' is loaned from an ancestor of the Welsh word afon, meaning 'river'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kennet and Avon Canal</span> Canal in southern England

The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of 87 miles (140 km), made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section. From Bristol to Bath the waterway follows the natural course of the River Avon before the canal links it to the River Kennet at Newbury, and from there to Reading on the River Thames. In all, the waterway incorporates 105 locks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blake's Lock</span>

Blake's Lock is a lock situated on the River Kennet in Reading, Berkshire, England. It is on the short reach of the River Kennet which is administered as if it were part of the River Thames and is hence owned and managed by the Environment Agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crofton Pumping Station</span> Grade I listed pumping station in Great Bedwyn, United Kingdom

Crofton Pumping Station, near the village of Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire, England, supplies the summit pound of the Kennet and Avon Canal with water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somerset Coal Canal</span> Canal in Somerset, England

The Somerset Coal Canal was a narrow canal in England, built around 1800. Its route began in basins at Paulton and Timsbury, ran to nearby Camerton, over two aqueducts at Dunkerton, through a tunnel at Combe Hay, then via Midford and Monkton Combe to Limpley Stoke where it joined the Kennet and Avon Canal. This link gave the Somerset coalfield access east toward London. The longest arm was 10.6 miles (17.1 km) long with 23 locks. From Midford an arm also ran via Writhlington to Radstock, with a tunnel at Wellow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County Lock</span> River lock in Reading, England

County Lock is a lock on the River Kennet in Reading town centre in the English county of Berkshire. It is now administered by the Canal & River Trust as part of the Kennet and Avon Canal. Downstream from the lock is Brewery Gut, a particularly fast flowing, narrow and dangerous stretch of the river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southcote Lock</span>

Southcote Lock is a lock on the River Kennet at Southcote near the town of Reading in Berkshire, England. It has a rise/fall of 5 feet 3 inches (1.60 m).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swineford Lock</span>

Swineford Lock is a canal lock situated on the River Avon, at the village of Swineford, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saltford Lock</span> Canal lock on the River Avon, England

Saltford Lock is a canal lock situated on the River Avon, at the village of Saltford, between Bristol and Bath, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelston Lock</span>

Kelston Lock is a canal lock situated on the River Avon, between the villages of Kelston and Saltford, between Bristol and Bath, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weston Lock</span>

Weston Lock is a canal lock situated on the River Avon, on the western outskirts of Bath, England, in what now forms the Newbridge suburb of Bath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bath Locks</span>

Bath Locks are a series of locks, now six locks, situated at the start of the Kennet and Avon Canal, at Bath, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Semington Locks</span>

The Semington Locks are situated at Semington, Wiltshire on the Kennet and Avon Canal, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dundas Aqueduct</span> Bridge in Limpley Stoke

Dundas Aqueduct is an aqueduct in England which carries the Kennet and Avon Canal over the River Avon and the Wessex Main Line railway. The aqueduct is near Monkton Combe, Somerset, and is about 2+12 miles (4 km) south-east of the city of Bath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caen Hill Locks</span> Flight of locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal

Caen Hill Locks are a flight of 29 locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal, between Rowde and Devizes in Wiltshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ufton Lock</span>

Ufton Lock is a degated lock on the Kennet and Avon Canal, between Padworth and Sulhamstead, Berkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hore</span>

John Hore was an English engineer, best known for making the River Kennet and River Avon navigable. Hore was one of the earliest English canal engineers, and Sir Alec Skempton wrote that he was "in the first rank among the navigation engineers". The Hutchinson Chronology of World History described his work on the Kennet navigation as "[setting] a new standard for inland waterways, and is an important forerunner of the canals of the Industrial Revolution".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warleigh</span> Human settlement in England

Warleigh is a hamlet in the civil parish of Bathford, in the Bath and North East Somerset district, in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It lies 2.5 miles (4 km) east of Bath, on the River Avon, it is primarily known as the location of Warleigh Weir and Warleigh Manor.

John Blackwell was an English civil engineer, known for his work as superintending engineer of the Kennet and Avon Canal under John Rennie and later as the canal company's resident engineer.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Claverton Pumping Station". historicengland.org.uk. English Heritage . Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  2. Wyatt, Richard (12 April 2019). "Claverton makes the grade!". Bath Newseum. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  3. "Claverton Pumping Station Trust CIO" . Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  4. Briggs, Jeanette. "The Kennet and Avon Canal". River Thames. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  5. "Bridge over a Leat to south of Claverton Pumping Station". historicengland.org.uk. English Heritage . Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  6. "Claverton Pumping Station". Old Steamers. Archived from the original on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  7. "Claverton Pumping Station". Our Transport Heritage. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  8. 1 2 Danks 2003 , pp. 53–62
  9. "Archive for the 'Kennet & Avon Cycle Route' Category". Rants from the Hollow. Archived from the original on 15 April 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  10. Clew 1985, pp. 15–18.
  11. Allsop 1987, p. 4.
  12. 1 2 3 Russell 1997 , pp. 7–10
  13. Cumberlidge 2009, p. 26.
  14. "About Crofton Pumping Station". Crofton Beam Engines. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  15. "Places to visit". River Avon Trail. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  16. "Saltford Brassmill Project". Saltford Brassmill Project. Archived from the original on 11 September 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  17. Danks 2003, pp. 11–13.
  18. 1 2 Danks 2003 , pp. 13–16
  19. 1 2 Lindley-Jones 2002 , pp. 9–10
  20. Clew 1985, p. 107.
  21. Hadfield 1967, p. 92.
  22. Clew 1985, p. 136.
  23. "Claverton Pumping Station". Pastscape National Monument Record. English Heritage. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  24. Danks 2003, pp. 16–20.
  25. Danks 2003, pp. 23–51.
  26. Cragg 1997, p. 151.
  27. Lindley-Jones 2002, p. 77.
  28. "Claverton Pumping Station -National Transport Trust Red Wheel Scheme" . Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  29. "Recognising Engineering Excellence Past, Present and Future". Engineering Heritage Awards Second Edition. Institution of Mechanical Engineers. p. 65. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  30. "Living Waterways Awards 2019" . Retrieved 7 September 2020.

Bibliography

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Claverton Pumping Station at Wikimedia Commons