Claverton Pumping Station
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Claverton Pumping Station in the village of Claverton, in the English county of
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
, 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 In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
, having been upgraded from Grade II in 2019. The
pumping station Pumping stations, also called pumphouses in situations such as 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 infrastructure system ...
was built by John Rennie between 1809 and 1813 to overcome water supply problems on the canal. It uses a wide wooden breastshot
water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or bucket ...
to drive two
Boulton and Watt Boulton & Watt was an early British engineering and manufacturing firm in the business of designing and making marine and stationary steam engines. Founded in the English West Midlands around Birmingham in 1775 as a partnership between the Eng ...
long
cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...
rocking beams, which power lift pumps to raise water up to the canal. The pumping station has undergone several modifications since its initial construction, including revising the wheel into two sections each wide separated by a 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 (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...
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 The Canal & River Trust (CRT), branded as in Wales, holds the guardianship of 2,000 miles of canals and rivers, together with reservoirs and a wide range of heritage buildings and structures, in England and Wales. Launched on 12 July 2012, th ...
and maintained by the Claverton Pumping Station Volunteers, open to the public as an
industrial heritage Industrial heritage refers to the physical remains of the history of technology and industry, such as manufacturing and mining sites, as well as power and transportation infrastructure. Another definition expands this scope so that the term a ...
museum.


Description

At Claverton, the Kennet and Avon Canal is cut into the side of the Avon valley above the River Avon. The pumping station is in a pump house built of Bath Stone, 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 Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. The pump house has a slate
hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...
. The wheelhouse projects to the west of the pump house and has
weatherboard Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...
sides. The east gable wall has three doors allowing access to the wheel itself. Water is diverted from the river by Warleigh Weir, about upstream. The water flows to the pumping station down a wide
leat A leat (; also lete or leet, or millstream) is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond. Othe ...
, which is crossed by a single segmental arch bridge with a central keystone. The water passes over depressing sluices which can be raised or lowered by hand cranking, and then powers a breastshot
water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or bucket ...
. The wide wheel is in two sections, each wide and in diameter, with a gap between them. The wheel has 48 wooden starts on each of the six cast iron rims. These starts support 96 float boards each of which is by by , and is paired with a 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 Iroko (also known as in Igbo language, '' in the Urhobo language of Southern Nigeria, and as odum in the Kwa languages of Ghana) is a large hardwood tree from the west coast of tropical Africa that can live up to 500 years. This is the common n ...
due to its longevity even in conditions where it is cycled between submerged and dry due to intermittent running. The breastshot wheel is vertically mounted, and falling water strikes the blades. Breastshot wheels are less efficient than backshot or overshot wheels, but more efficient than undershot wheels. At full power the wheel uses 2 
ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...
s (2 
tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000  kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s) 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 , which has 408 (204 pairs) hand-fitted wooden teeth that mesh with a
cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...
gear, increasing the speed to 16
rpm Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
. From there, cranks drive vertical connecting rods that transfer the energy to two long cast iron rocking beams made by
Boulton and Watt Boulton & Watt was an early British engineering and manufacturing firm in the business of designing and making marine and stationary steam engines. Founded in the English West Midlands around Birmingham in 1775 as a partnership between the Eng ...
. Each beam drives an diameter lift pump, which also takes its supply from the mill leat. Each pump stroke raises 50  imperial gallons (230 
litre The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3 ...
s) of water to the canal via of 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 , giving a potential power of 34 hp. The output power, calculated from the water lifted into the canal per minute, is 24 hp representing an efficiency of 62%.


History


Construction

The idea of an east to west waterway link across southern England was first mentioned in Elizabethan times, between 1558 and 1603, to take advantage of the proximity of the rivers Avon and
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
, only apart at their closest. Plans for a waterway were shelved until the early 18th century. In 1723 the Kennet Navigation through
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
opened. The Avon navigation from
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
to Bath was opened in 1727. In 1788 the so-called "Western Canal" was proposed to improve trade and communication links to towns such as
Hungerford Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the ...
,
Marlborough, Wiltshire Marlborough ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire on the Old Bath Road, the old main road from London to Bath. The town is on the River Kennet, 24 miles (39 km) north of Salisbury and 10 miles (16& ...
,
Calne Calne () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, southwestern England,OS Explorer Map 156, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey A2 edition (2007). at the northwestern extremity of the North Wessex Downs ...
, Chippenham and
Melksham Melksham () is a town on the River Avon in Wiltshire, England, about northeast of Trowbridge and south of Chippenham. At the 2011 census, the Melksham built-up area had a population of 19,357, making it Wiltshire's fifth-largest settlement aft ...
. 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 The Grand Western Canal ran between Taunton in Somerset and Tiverton in Devon in the United Kingdom. The canal had its origins in various plans, going back to 1796, to link the Bristol Channel and the English Channel by a canal, bypassing Lands ...
, which was being proposed at the same time. 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 Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parish in east Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Dun about southwest of Hungerford, southeast of Swindon and southeast of Marlborough. The Kennet and Avon Canal and the Reading to Taunton ...
,
Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century civil war between ...
,
Trowbridge Trowbridge ( ) is the county town of Wiltshire, England, on the River Biss in the west of the county. It is near the border with Somerset and lies southeast of Bath, 31 miles (49 km) southwest of Swindon and 20 miles (32 km) southeas ...
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 The Bruce Tunnel is on the summit pound of the Kennet and Avon Canal between Wootton Top Lock and Crofton Locks in Wiltshire, England. The tunnel is long. It is named after Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury (1729–1814), the loc ...
in the
Savernake Forest Savernake Forest stands on a Cretaceous chalk plateau between Marlborough and Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire, England. Its area is approximately . Most of the forest lies within the civil parish of Savernake. It is privately owned by the Earl of C ...
. On 17 April 1794 the Kennet and Avon Canal Act received the
Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...
and construction began. The new route added several
locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...
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 Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon or Bradford upon Avon) is a town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset, which had a population of 9,402 at the 2011 census. The town's canal, historic buildings, s ...
and the
Bath Locks Bath Locks () are a series of locks, now six locks, situated at the start of the Kennet and Avon Canal, at Bath, England. Bath Bottom Lock, which is numbered as No 7 on the canal, is the meeting with the River Avon just south of Pulteney Bridge ...
, 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.
Crofton Pumping Station Crofton Pumping Station, near the village of Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire, England, supplies the summit pound of the Kennet and Avon Canal with water. The steam-powered pumping station is preserved and operates on selected weekends. It contains ...
, 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. Protracted negotiations over water rights with the owners of
Saltford Brass Mill Saltford Brass Mill is a brass mill on the River Avon at Saltford, Somerset, England. It dates from the 1720s is listed as Grade II* and is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument. There was a watermill on the site at the time of the Domesday Book an ...
and around 30 other mills on the river between Bath and Bristol 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.


Operation and decline

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. 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. 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. The
Somerset Coal Canal The Somerset Coal Canal (originally known as the Somersetshire 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 ...
and
Wilts & Berks Canal The Wilts & Berks Canal is a canal in the historic counties of Wiltshire and Berkshire, England, linking the Kennet and Avon Canal at Semington near Melksham, to the River Thames at Abingdon. The North Wilts Canal merged with it to become a ...
, which each supplied some of the trade to the Kennet and Avon, including freight from the Somerset coalfield, closed in 1904 and 1906 respectively. 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. In 1926, following a loss of £18,041 the previous year, the Great Western Railway sought to close the canal by obtaining a
Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...
Order, but the move was resisted and the company charged with improving its maintenance of the canal. After the Second World War the Transport Act of 1947 meant that control of the canal passed to the
British Transport Commission The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the se ...
, 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. Claverton Pumping Station ceased operation in 1952, after the failure of a number of the pit wheel's oak teeth. The British Transport Commission installed a
centrifugal pump Centrifugal pumps are used to transport fluids by the conversion of rotational kinetic energy to the hydrodynamic energy of the fluid flow. The rotational energy typically comes from an engine or electric motor. They are a sub-class of dynamic ...
to maintain the statutory minimum water level.


Restoration

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 British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotland a ...
that students from the
University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...
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 Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church ...
. 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. In 1981,
British Waterways British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotlan ...
installed two electric pumps and presented the old diesel pump to the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust for preservation. Wessex Water Authority agreed to the extraction of per day from the Avon at Claverton to be pumped east; the cost of the pumps was £175,000. 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 The National Transport Trust is a British registered charity founded in 1965 as the Transport Trust, the name was changed to reflect the national remit and coverage of its activities. The Trust acts as a hub for the transport preservation movemen ...
Red Wheel, recognising its historical importance to transport heritage in the United Kingdom. The restoration work received an Engineering Heritage Award from the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 120,000 member ...
and won first place in the Heritage and Conservation category of the Living Waterways Awards 2019.


Present day

The pumping station is maintained by volunteers and is open every other Saturday 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.


References


Bibliography

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External links

* {{Good article Buildings and structures in Bath and North East Somerset *Claverton Pumping Station Kennet and Avon Canal Tourist attractions in Somerset Watermills in Somerset Grade I listed buildings in Bath and North East Somerset Grade I listed industrial buildings Industrial archaeological sites in Somerset Industrial buildings in England Museums in Somerset Canal museums in England Technology museums in the United Kingdom Water supply pumping stations Infrastructure completed in 1813 Science and technology in Somerset Waterworks museums in England Water-powered beam engines Grade I listed museum buildings Grade I listed water mills Preserved beam engines