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Report - - Behind the scenes at The British Engineerium, aug 2012. | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Behind the scenes at The British Engineerium, aug 2012.

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MOFO

Don't Worry Be Happy
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British Engineerium taken from Wikipedia

Listed Building – Grade II*

The British Engineerium (originally named Goldstone Pumping Station, then Brighton and Hove Engineerium, before taking its present name in 1981) is an engineering and steam power museum in the West Blatchington area of Hove, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove, located just north of the Brighton & Hove Greyhound Stadium. It is housed in a 19th-century High Victorian Gothic complex of brick buildings which were erected in 1866 as a pumping station for the local water supply company. The Goldstone Pumping Station supplied water to the local area for more than a century before it was converted to its present use.

At its greatest extent, between 1884 and 1952, the complex consisted of two boiler houses with condensing engines, a chimney, coal cellars, workshop, cooling pond, leat and underground reservoir. Situated on top of a naturally fissured chalk hollow, it provided vast quantities of water to the rapidly growing towns of Hove and its larger neighbour, the fashionable seaside resort of Brighton, for more than a century. As new sources of water were found elsewhere and more modern equipment installed to exploit them, the pumping station's importance declined, and by 1971 the Brighton Water Department had closed it and threatened the complex with demolition. An industrial archaeologist offered to restore the buildings and machinery in return for a lease from the Brighton Water Corporation, and a charitable trust was formed to enable this. Expertise developed by the Engineerium's employees and volunteers was exploited across the world: they founded museums, undertook restoration projects and trained young people in engineering heritage conservation. Another enthusiast subsequently bought the complex, and as of 2012 it is closed to the public while more restoration and extension work takes place.

The High Victorian Gothic buildings are a landmark in Hove, and are a good example of the 19th-century ethos that "utility definitely does not equal dullness" in industrial buildings.[1] Polychrome brickwork, moulded dressings and facings, decorative gables and elaborate windows characterise all the structures – even the 95-foot (29 m) chimney, which stands apart from the main buildings like a campanile. English Heritage has listed the complex for its architectural and historical importance, giving its structures five separate listings: the former boiler house and the chimney are both listed at Grade II* – the second-highest designation – and the former coal shed, the cooling pond and leat and the tall flint and brick wall surrounding the site each have the lower Grade II status.

As well as the restored pumping station equipment, the complex has a wide range of exhibits: more than 1,500 were in place less than a year after it opened. These include a 19th-century horse-drawn fire engine, traction engines, veteran motorcycles, Victorian household equipment and old tools. A French-built horizontal steam engine dating from 1859 is the principal exhibit. The Engineerium has always used its exhibits to educate and promote the study of industrial history: it has been called "the world's only centre for the teaching of engineering conservation", and was central to the activities of the English Industrial Heritage Year in 1993. For many years, the larger and indigenous exhibits were fully operational and in steam at weekends.

Ok hello everyone its been some time.

Iv allway been one for pushing my look when it come to this kind of thing, and this one was just that. i went for a walk to find the gate open with lots of workmen around, i sneckly ran around the back yard and found an open door ;). This is one stunning place i felt so happy to be in there. The workmen seemed to just be staying in one spot painting so i workt my way around the site doing my best not to make any noise, After what seemed like hours all the noise from the buliders had stop i did start to get abit worryed i was going to end up geting lockt in so i made my way outside. I could see the main gate with onone are was my exit but there was just one more thing i had to do i ran to the base of the crane and climbed my way up. seeing hove from up there was loveiing.

hope you enjoy theres

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