Bestwood Pumping Station was a water

pumping station Pumping stations, also called pumphouses in situations such as well drilling, drilled wells and drinking water, are facilities containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastru ...

operating in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

from 1874 until 1964.

History

Bestwood Pumping Station was built between 1871 and 1874 on land belonging to

William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans William Amelius Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans, PC DL (15 April 1840 – 10 May 1898), styled Earl of Burford until 1849, was a British Liberal parliamentarian of the Victorian era. The Duke served in William Gladstone's g ...

. It was commissioned by the Nottingham Water Company and designed by

Thomas Hawksley Thomas Hawksley ( – ) was an English civil engineer of the 19th century, particularly associated with early water supply and coal gas engineering projects. Hawksley was, with John Frederick Bateman, the leading British water engineer of the ...

. Several of the structures on site are

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

including the pump house, lodges, landscaped ornamental cooling pond, several cast iron lamps and the boundary walls. The high chimney is concealed and disguised as a huge

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

topped by a cupola. It was equipped with two 125 hp rotative

beam engine A beam engine is a type of steam engine where a pivoted overhead beam is used to apply the force from a vertical piston to a vertical connecting rod. This configuration, with the engine directly driving a pump, was first used by Thomas Newco ...

s built by Joseph Whitham and Son, Leeds. The pumping station yielded more than per day from the pebble beds.Chemical news and journal of industrial science, Volume 32 It pumped water through two 18 inch mains to Red Hill reservoir and one 18 inch main to the

Papplewick Papplewick is a village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England, 7.5 miles (12 km) north of Nottingham and 6 miles (10 km) south of Mansfield. It had a population of 756 at the 2011 census. In the Middle Ages, the village marked ...

reservoir. It operated until 1964 when a new electric pump house was built. The steam engines were removed between 1968 and 1972.

Current use

The Venetian Gothic Revival style building can be clearly seen from the main

A60 road The A60 is a road linking Loughborough in Leicestershire, England, with Doncaster in South Yorkshire, via Nottingham. ...

. Its tower makes the building a local landmark. The site was vacant and boarded-up until Healthworks Co bought it. Starting in 1997 there has been a £2m conversion of the pumping station to a restaurant and health club complex.

External links

See Bestwood Pumping Station on Google Street ViewLakeside restaurant and spa

References

{{coord, 53.02831, -1.13764, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Nottinghamshire Preserved stationary steam engines Infrastructure completed in 1874 Grade II* listed buildings in Nottinghamshire Water supply and sanitation in England Water supply pumping stations

History

Current use

See also

External links

References