Introduction
This is one of the first pumping stations me and @JakeV50 checked out on our various trips up to Fenland to discover these little industrial gems. This was one of Jake’s finds from a local heritage website and I’ve been looking forward to posting my take on the place.
Information & History
As covered in some of my previous pumping station reports, Fenland is a low-lying region where much of the area is around or below sea level. This means extensive drainage infrastructure such as man-made drains and pump houses are necessary to prevent flooding. Southery Pumping Station, also referred to as New Fen and Further Fen in K.S.G Hinde’s book ‘Fenland Pumping Engines', is located in the South Level which is a section of the ‘Great Level of the Fens’. The South Level spans 170,000 acres and lies east of the River Great Ouse. In 1936, 26 internal drainage districts existed within this level with this station coming under the Feltwell New Fen district which comprised of around 7000 acres. The district is now known as the Southery and District IBD and has expanded considerably.
This particular station complemented the nearby station which, confusingly, is also referred to as Southery Pumping Station. The station contains a lovely single-cylinder Ruston diesel engine. This one is quite special compared to a few others I have seen as it incorporates an extra heavy flywheel. I am not sure why this station warranted the need for an uprated flywheel. The engine powered a submersible pump of the centrifugal type manufactured by Gwynnes. Gwynnes was a popular choice for pumps at stations in the Fens and some are still in use today. The station was built in 1943 and was still operating 50 years later in the early nineties. I found this surprising, considering most smaller stations were upgraded to electric pumps during the sixties and seventies so it may well have been one of the last small stations to be using an old engine like this. A lot of larger pumping stations in the area still have old engines like these in situ, but are only used as backup or when extra power is required to drive the pumps during heavy rainfall.
The pumping station is of simple brick construction, with a corrugated roof and a small outlet to the side so diesel fumes can escape. There’s also a corrugated outbuilding which contains nothing of interest. To the rear of the building lies the sluice gate to prevent large debris from traveling through the system and an old wooden water cooler with a lovely old sign on it. There are a couple of other pieces of machinery inside the building including a Smith & Wellstood tortoise shell stove which provided workers with heat. In the corner is a small petrol-powered engine but I am not sure what this was used for, perhaps a separate source for lighting as it doesn’t appear that this station was ever hooked up to the mains. There are also a couple of small side rooms but these didn’t contain anything of interest.
The Explore
Jake messaged me one Saturday or Sunday morning and said he wanted to check out an old drainage pump about an hour away, I didn’t know what to expect and thought maybe it would just be an empty building, we parked up and as we got closer we thought it may still be active as it looked in great condition from the side. We then saw the damaged windows and thought it looked promising, then Jake walked up to the building and looked through the window, I will never forget the look on his face when he looked back at me. It was such a great surprise. There was even a small tornado shooting across the nearby field during a heavy shower on the first visit. We first visited in April but a lot of these photos are from July when I re-visited to get a few more pics.
This station is what gave us motivation to find more sites like this around the Fens and we have really enjoyed looking at these old pump houses ever since. Even though it is only a small place it is one of my favourite places I’ve visited and I still see myself going back once again at some point. I do hope the graffiti brigade doesn’t ruin it.
Onto the photos, starting with a few externals as usual:
The lovely sign on top of the cooling tower:
Heading inside:
An overview of the main room, the wide angle lens makes the engine appear a bit smaller than it actually is, it really does have to be seen to be appreciated:
The Gwynnes centrifugal pump sits below the gearbox on the right:
I liked the colour scheme in here with the green doors. The walls are also green at the bottom and a yellow/beige shade for the upper part:
The Tortoise Stove along with the nameplate:
A very old tub of brown putty:
A few detail shots:
And some film shots to conclude. This was Kodak ColorPlus 200 for anyone interested.
Thanks for looking!
This is one of the first pumping stations me and @JakeV50 checked out on our various trips up to Fenland to discover these little industrial gems. This was one of Jake’s finds from a local heritage website and I’ve been looking forward to posting my take on the place.
Information & History
As covered in some of my previous pumping station reports, Fenland is a low-lying region where much of the area is around or below sea level. This means extensive drainage infrastructure such as man-made drains and pump houses are necessary to prevent flooding. Southery Pumping Station, also referred to as New Fen and Further Fen in K.S.G Hinde’s book ‘Fenland Pumping Engines', is located in the South Level which is a section of the ‘Great Level of the Fens’. The South Level spans 170,000 acres and lies east of the River Great Ouse. In 1936, 26 internal drainage districts existed within this level with this station coming under the Feltwell New Fen district which comprised of around 7000 acres. The district is now known as the Southery and District IBD and has expanded considerably.
This particular station complemented the nearby station which, confusingly, is also referred to as Southery Pumping Station. The station contains a lovely single-cylinder Ruston diesel engine. This one is quite special compared to a few others I have seen as it incorporates an extra heavy flywheel. I am not sure why this station warranted the need for an uprated flywheel. The engine powered a submersible pump of the centrifugal type manufactured by Gwynnes. Gwynnes was a popular choice for pumps at stations in the Fens and some are still in use today. The station was built in 1943 and was still operating 50 years later in the early nineties. I found this surprising, considering most smaller stations were upgraded to electric pumps during the sixties and seventies so it may well have been one of the last small stations to be using an old engine like this. A lot of larger pumping stations in the area still have old engines like these in situ, but are only used as backup or when extra power is required to drive the pumps during heavy rainfall.
The pumping station is of simple brick construction, with a corrugated roof and a small outlet to the side so diesel fumes can escape. There’s also a corrugated outbuilding which contains nothing of interest. To the rear of the building lies the sluice gate to prevent large debris from traveling through the system and an old wooden water cooler with a lovely old sign on it. There are a couple of other pieces of machinery inside the building including a Smith & Wellstood tortoise shell stove which provided workers with heat. In the corner is a small petrol-powered engine but I am not sure what this was used for, perhaps a separate source for lighting as it doesn’t appear that this station was ever hooked up to the mains. There are also a couple of small side rooms but these didn’t contain anything of interest.
The Explore
Jake messaged me one Saturday or Sunday morning and said he wanted to check out an old drainage pump about an hour away, I didn’t know what to expect and thought maybe it would just be an empty building, we parked up and as we got closer we thought it may still be active as it looked in great condition from the side. We then saw the damaged windows and thought it looked promising, then Jake walked up to the building and looked through the window, I will never forget the look on his face when he looked back at me. It was such a great surprise. There was even a small tornado shooting across the nearby field during a heavy shower on the first visit. We first visited in April but a lot of these photos are from July when I re-visited to get a few more pics.
This station is what gave us motivation to find more sites like this around the Fens and we have really enjoyed looking at these old pump houses ever since. Even though it is only a small place it is one of my favourite places I’ve visited and I still see myself going back once again at some point. I do hope the graffiti brigade doesn’t ruin it.
Onto the photos, starting with a few externals as usual:
The lovely sign on top of the cooling tower:
Heading inside:
An overview of the main room, the wide angle lens makes the engine appear a bit smaller than it actually is, it really does have to be seen to be appreciated:
The Gwynnes centrifugal pump sits below the gearbox on the right:
I liked the colour scheme in here with the green doors. The walls are also green at the bottom and a yellow/beige shade for the upper part:
The Tortoise Stove along with the nameplate:
A very old tub of brown putty:
A few detail shots:
And some film shots to conclude. This was Kodak ColorPlus 200 for anyone interested.
Thanks for looking!
