Markfield Road Pumping Station, now known as Markfield Beam Engine and Museum or sometimes just as Markfield Beam Engine is a Grade II listed building containing a beam engine, originally built in 1886 to pump sewage from Tottenham towards the Beckton Works. The grounds of the building now form a public park known as Markfield Park. The River Moselle joins the River Lea at this location.
In 2025 the museum merged with Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum to form the Heritage and Communities Trust.
__NOTOC__
Markfield Beam Engine
Markfield Beam Engine is a free-standing<!--, compound, rotative--> steam engine with a flywheel that moves a beam. The beam drives two single-acting plunger pumps. Each pump is 26 inches in diameter and has a 51-inch stroke. When the machine was operational it had a working speed of 16 rpm and each pump could move a day.
The engine is finely decorated, with doric style columns and acanthus leaves.
History
left|thumb|upright|The 27 ft [[flywheel on display]]
The sewage works opened in 1864, The scheme was led by the Tottenham and Wood Green Drainage Board, and was connected to the London County Council drainage system and the Northern Outfall Sewer. The current beam engine was built by Wood Brothers of Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire, in 1886 and commissioned in 1888, replacing an earlier 45 horsepower beam engine. It is the only surviving Wood Brothers eight column engine in situ. It was used continuously from its installation until 1905, when it was relegated to occasional duty for stormwater pumping. <!-- By the late 1950s it was decided that the site was too small to have a digested sludge system installed and that the treatment charges levied by the London County Council meant that it was more cost-effective to have all effluents directed through a new low-level sewer to the rebuilt Deephams Sewage Treatment Works at Edmonton thus pumping of sewage would no longer be required at the Markfield Works.-->The works were finally closed for operation in February 1964, having been replaced by Deephams Sewage Treatment Works in Edmonton. Markhouse Beam Engine and Museum was formed in 1984.
Over £3 million has been spent on restoring the engine, building and surrounding grounds, a full restoration of the park was completed by April 2010, and the park, museum, and beam engine re-opened for public access. The funding was secured through various sources including the Heritage Lottery Fund, Football Foundation, DCLG and Big Lottery Fund.
In 2025 the museum merged with the nearby Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum to form the Heritage and Communities Trust.
See also
- Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum
- Heritage and Communities Trust