Crossness Pumping Station

Crossness Pumping Station The Crossness Pumping Station was built by Sir Joseph Bazalgette as part of Victorian London's urgently needed main sewerage system.

16/06/2026

From the archive

Another clip from the 1998 restoration of the Prince Consort beam engine at Crossness Pumping Station.
The beam engines at Crossness are so large that the building was actually built around them!
As you can imagine they are are incredibly hard to restore and skilled volunteers have been working since the 80s to bring them back into use and restore Crossness to its Victorian and Edwardian grandeur.

Visit us on Saturday 27th June to learn more about this work and find our how the architecture of London's most important sanitation building transformed over 160 years.
- Link in the bio

11/06/2026

Biggest name from Blackheath?
In 1998 the Crossness Engines Trust who are responsible for the upkeep of Crossness Pumping Station, filmed some of the major restoration work being done to preserve and restore the most important building in the Victorian London sewer system.
In this clip the signature of the contractor William Webster is being restored to its Victorian grandeur right over the famous Octagon.
Webster moved to London in 1860 and soon after lead the construction of the most iconic parts of the Victorian sewer system, including Victoria and Albert embankments, Abbey Mills pumping station in north London, and of course Crossness Pumping Station in what is now Thamesmead.

10/06/2026

Join us on Saturday 27th June for "The Engineering of Belonging," a collaborative event by Crossness Pumping Station, Purcell and Bow Arts as part of the London Festival of Architecture.

This whole day event will explore the magnificent architecture of Crossness Pumping Station and the dedicated volunteers who keep it running.

To find out more and book tickets, follow the link in our bio.

At Crossness we talk a lot about Bazalgette but who really is he? One of Britain's most famous and successful engineers,...
08/06/2026

At Crossness we talk a lot about Bazalgette but who really is he?

One of Britain's most famous and successful engineers, Bazalgette worked in infrastructure engineering projects his entire life but is most famous for his part in London's sewage system.

Are there any important facts we've missed?

Bazalgette was central to the success of the London sewers but he didn't do it alone! The huge project relied on thousands of workers, designers, engineers and more. Many of whom we will never know the names of.

If you would like to see the original plans drawn up by the engineers and architects working on Bazalgette's projects, make sure to visit our London Festival of Architecture event on Saturday 27th June. We'll be showing the original designs for Crossness for one day only!
Link in the bio

02/06/2026

From the Crossness archive!
Footage of Crossness volunteers restoring the huge Victorian beam engines at Crossness Pumping station in 1998.
The work to restore the magnificent engines has taken hundreds of hands and is still ongoing.
The engine that the volunteers are restoring in the video is Prince Consort, named for Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert. This engine is now restored and is run for our steaming days once a month.

We are going to be posting more clips from our archives so if you are interested follow us and let us know in the comments what kind of footage you would like to see

31/05/2026

What makes the architecture of Crossness so special?
In the build up to our Festival of Architecture event on Saturday 27th June, we asked our tour guides about the hidden architectural treasures of Crossness Pumping Station.
Mick's treasure is the amazing brickwork of Crossness. Built during the "golden age" of decorative brickwork, Crossness boasts some of the most precise and beautiful brickwork in London. Not what you'd necessarily expect from a sewage pumping station!

Find out more in the link in our bio

Before and after!We're back with a recreation of 19th century photos of the Beam Engine House at Crossness.This photo of...
28/05/2026

Before and after!
We're back with a recreation of 19th century photos of the Beam Engine House at Crossness.
This photo of the top floor of the beam engine house is from the opening of Crossness in 1865. Beside it is a photo taken this year by Tom Registe who works at Crossness today.

The Victorians built Crossness to last so they may not have been surprised that we are taking photos of the same building 160 years later. They definitely would be surprised, however, to learn that the photo was taken on the descendant of the Reis telephone, invented four years earlier in 1861.

Spring really has sprung at Crossness Pumping Station!While we were sheltering in the museum basement to stay cool, the ...
28/05/2026

Spring really has sprung at Crossness Pumping Station!

While we were sheltering in the museum basement to stay cool, the bees have been out in force in the Victorian garden, collecting nectar and pollen from the colourful array of planted and wild flowers.

The lavender roundels you can see in the last two images are based on images taken from the original garden in the 19th century, and Crossness's volunteers have continued the tradition of caring for the garden and growing botanicals.
The lavender is now used by families to make decorated pomanders on our open days!

Before and after!Two photos taken 160 years apart, one piece of magnificent Victorian engineering. Image 1: an 1860s pho...
21/05/2026

Before and after!
Two photos taken 160 years apart, one piece of magnificent Victorian engineering.
Image 1: an 1860s photograph of the magnificent beams of Crossness, from the Historic England archive.
Image 2: the restored beam at Crossness, photot taken in 2025 by Anthony Bains

The beady eyes amongst you may have noticed that these are in fact not the exact same beam. The two beams are opposite each other at the top floor of our beam engine house. If you want to see both beams at the same time why not visit us for the London Festival of Architecture on Saturday 27th June! Head to our website to book tickets https://tickets.crossness.org.uk/

20/05/2026

Did you know we run free vintage buses from Abbey Wood station to Crossness on our steaming days and lots of our special events too!
A big thanks to all the bus drivers and conductors who have brought visitors to Crossness over the years.

Let us know if you've ridden these buses before, how did you find the journey?

Address

Bazalgette Way, Abbey Wood
London
SE29AQ

Telephone

02083113711

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