This post is a collection of byproducts from trips looking for hydraulic rams or waterwheel pumps.
Sometimes the older and more interesting equipment has gone and all that’s left is a petrol or diesel-powered pump, or remains thereof.
Many firms made engines and pumps, but to keep things to a reasonable length only sites which contain machinery by R A Lister and Co are listed here.
Background. Listers was founded in 1867 in Dursley, Gloucestershire, making agricultural stuff.
However it became best known for its engines, which were produced in large numbers and were widely exported, particularly to commonwealth countries.
Lister, now called Lister Petter, is still making diesels - there are some posts on here exploring the remains of the old Lister Petter factory in Dursley.
They also made water pumps, among other things, and marketed engine-pump combos such as the one shown below.
Lister equipment was not cheap, but it was reliable and long lasting - it’s popular among certain types who restore them, paint them green, and wheel them around shows on little trolleys.
There’s a rather slow moving summary of most things Lister here if you’re interested: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBLfyhophsY&ab_channel=Atlantic
Disclaimer. I don’t know much about engines, and Lister produced many varieties making identification tedious if bits are missing.
However if there’s a legible nameplate there are websites where you can look up the details although I won’t include them here.
Most of the examples below are variations of the ‘D’ petrol model which are rather common - one appeared in a recent post on waterwheel pumps (# 4).
My only personal experience of a Lister is with an ancient cement mixer - this was started by cranking a handle, then disengaging it quickly once the thing futt-futt-futted into life.
A. Hoaldalbert, Monmouthshire.
This first example is typical, found at a site marked ‘pumping station’ on a 1899 map.
The only thing in the little shed was a black plastic water tank with a submersible electric pump.
However outside the door a mossy flywheel was visible and a bit of excavation revealed the characteristic rectangular lump of an old model D.
It would presumably have driven a pump, but no sign of that.
B. Lingen, Herefordhire.
Shown as a ‘hydraulic pump’ in 1885, whatever was here was replaced by a fairly recent (1962) air-cooled diesel - again the pump has gone.
C. Penrhos, Monmouthshire.
The ‘pumping house’ here appears between 1900 and 1918 - inside is a Lister pump but no engine.
The pump is an H1 model - there was also an old manual lying around.
Lister made a series of these shallow well double acting pumps of increasing size named H1, H2, H3 etc.
‘Shallow well’ just means a well no deeper than about 25 feet, otherwise the pump would have to be at the bottom.
D. Whitby, Yorkshire.
The site was labelled as a ‘well house’ in 1893 and contained the remains of a Lister CS (an early diesel model) and probably another H1 pump.
I only seem to have a single picture of these.
E. North Aston, Oxfordshire.
The site is labelled as a ‘force pump’ in 1880.
At first I thought there was nothing left under the remains of the hut, but a bit of excavation yielded a model D engine and an H2 pump.
F. Risbury, Herefordshire.
Labelled as a ‘hydraulic pump’ in 1902, whatever was here moved around - it was at a different place in 1927, and what I found was about 100 yards away from this.
The tin hut contained the partially buried remains of another model D engine and H2 pump which I put back upright on some sleepers.
G. Stroud, Gloucestershire.
Two hydraulic rams are shown by 1920 in a field outside town.
One was still there, but the other seems to have replaced by yet another model D/H2 combination, recognisably the same setup as shown in the ad at the beginning.
Because they were so popular, there are a lot of these old Listers still around, typically found in farm outbuildings or barns if you spend much time in the countryside.
Sometimes the older and more interesting equipment has gone and all that’s left is a petrol or diesel-powered pump, or remains thereof.
Many firms made engines and pumps, but to keep things to a reasonable length only sites which contain machinery by R A Lister and Co are listed here.
Background. Listers was founded in 1867 in Dursley, Gloucestershire, making agricultural stuff.
However it became best known for its engines, which were produced in large numbers and were widely exported, particularly to commonwealth countries.
Lister, now called Lister Petter, is still making diesels - there are some posts on here exploring the remains of the old Lister Petter factory in Dursley.
They also made water pumps, among other things, and marketed engine-pump combos such as the one shown below.
Lister equipment was not cheap, but it was reliable and long lasting - it’s popular among certain types who restore them, paint them green, and wheel them around shows on little trolleys.
There’s a rather slow moving summary of most things Lister here if you’re interested: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBLfyhophsY&ab_channel=Atlantic
Disclaimer. I don’t know much about engines, and Lister produced many varieties making identification tedious if bits are missing.
However if there’s a legible nameplate there are websites where you can look up the details although I won’t include them here.
Most of the examples below are variations of the ‘D’ petrol model which are rather common - one appeared in a recent post on waterwheel pumps (# 4).
My only personal experience of a Lister is with an ancient cement mixer - this was started by cranking a handle, then disengaging it quickly once the thing futt-futt-futted into life.
A. Hoaldalbert, Monmouthshire.
This first example is typical, found at a site marked ‘pumping station’ on a 1899 map.
The only thing in the little shed was a black plastic water tank with a submersible electric pump.
However outside the door a mossy flywheel was visible and a bit of excavation revealed the characteristic rectangular lump of an old model D.
It would presumably have driven a pump, but no sign of that.
B. Lingen, Herefordhire.
Shown as a ‘hydraulic pump’ in 1885, whatever was here was replaced by a fairly recent (1962) air-cooled diesel - again the pump has gone.
C. Penrhos, Monmouthshire.
The ‘pumping house’ here appears between 1900 and 1918 - inside is a Lister pump but no engine.
The pump is an H1 model - there was also an old manual lying around.
Lister made a series of these shallow well double acting pumps of increasing size named H1, H2, H3 etc.
‘Shallow well’ just means a well no deeper than about 25 feet, otherwise the pump would have to be at the bottom.
D. Whitby, Yorkshire.
The site was labelled as a ‘well house’ in 1893 and contained the remains of a Lister CS (an early diesel model) and probably another H1 pump.
I only seem to have a single picture of these.
E. North Aston, Oxfordshire.
The site is labelled as a ‘force pump’ in 1880.
At first I thought there was nothing left under the remains of the hut, but a bit of excavation yielded a model D engine and an H2 pump.
F. Risbury, Herefordshire.
Labelled as a ‘hydraulic pump’ in 1902, whatever was here moved around - it was at a different place in 1927, and what I found was about 100 yards away from this.
The tin hut contained the partially buried remains of another model D engine and H2 pump which I put back upright on some sleepers.
G. Stroud, Gloucestershire.
Two hydraulic rams are shown by 1920 in a field outside town.
One was still there, but the other seems to have replaced by yet another model D/H2 combination, recognisably the same setup as shown in the ad at the beginning.
Because they were so popular, there are a lot of these old Listers still around, typically found in farm outbuildings or barns if you spend much time in the countryside.
