Description and History of Site:-

Part of Bazalgette's main drainage system, 1872-75. Lower elevation to engine house faced with rusticated stone. The upper beam floor storey is brick with windows dressed in Portland stone. Curved mansard roof pierced with circular ventilators, separate chimney shaft 172 ft high has brick panels and entablature and internal stair case giving access to the top of the chimney Original beam engines removed 1937, diesel pumps by Allen of Bedford now on standby with electric pumps in use. Sewage is lifted 18 ft into low level sewer.

'Pimlico', Old and New London: Volume 5 (1878), pp. 39-49: "One of the principal buildings erected upon it is the Western Pumping Station, which was finished in 1874-5, completing the main drainage system of the metropolis. The foundation-stone of the structure was laid in 1873, and the works cost about £183,000. This station provides pumping power to lift the sewage and a part of the rainfall contributed by the district, together estimated at 38,000 gallons per minute, a height of eighteen feet in the Low Level Sewer, which extends from Pimlico to the Abbey Mills Pumping Station, near Barking, in Essex. The requisite power is obtained from four high-pressure condensing beam-engines of an aggregate of 360-horse power. Supplementary power, to be used in case of accident to the principal engines, or on any similar emergency, is provided by an additional high-pressure, non-condensing engine of 120-horse power, supplied from two boilers similar to those for the principal engines. This engine and its boilers are erected in a separate building to the rear of the main buildings, near the canal. The works further comprise coal vaults, settling pond, and reservoirs for condensing water, repairing-shops, stores, and dwelling-houses for the workmen and superintendent in charge of the works. In all they cover nearly four acres. The principal engine house is situate facing the main road and river, and the height of this building rises to upwards of seventy-one feet. "

Further Reading and References:-

'Pimlico', Old and New London: Volume 5 (1878), pp. 39-49.
Fine picture on http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1162540

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Key Words :- sewage pumping station

Address :- Grosvenor Road, Pimlico, London, Greater London, SW1
Grid Ref :- TQ 28682 77962
Co-ordinates :- Lat 51.485978 , Long -0.148075
Local Authority :- Westminster City Council
Pre 1974 County :- London
Site Status :- Listed - Grade II
Historic England List No - 1214358,
Site Condition :- Operational site, in use for original purpose
Site Dates :- 1875 -
Contributor :- GLIAS Database - 2 June 2018

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