Dalton Water Pumping Station, Dalton Le Dale, Durham
This water pumping station was built to designs by Thomas Hawksley for the Sunderland and South Shields Water Company in 1873-9. It houses a pair of Cornish non-rotative beam engines driven by superheated steam. They pumped water up through the limestone base rock to a reservoir from which it was supplied to Sunderland and its localities. The pumping engine house was built in the Venetian Gothic Revival style. It was set in an ornamental park with three cooling ponds and a reservoir arranged as a formal water garden. There were 6 houses for staff, which included two full time gardeners. The machinery has not been used or maintained since World War Two, although the beam engine is still largely intact (2009). There is a 20th century pumping station on the site.
Location
Durham Dalton Le DalePeriod
Victorian (1837 - 1901)Themes
