The exciting sequel to Rural Pump Houses 1 - another collection of little places pumping water but not powered by it.
Most small pump houses shown on old maps are empty or not there at all.
But sometimes there’s enough left to be worth recording, bearing in mind that what remains may be just the last iteration of what was installed over the years as technology changed.
All Photos are phone.
Starting with one near Darlington, this may have pumped water from a flooded clay pit to a brick and tile works (now converted into a B&B).
The pump house appears between 1912 and 1940 on maps and has a petrol engine driving a little centrifugal pump via a long belt (missing).
No maker’s label on either engine or pump that I could see.
The next one is at the bottom of a ravine where the Cor Burn runs past Aydon Castle in Northumberland.
It appears sometime between 1860 and 1895 may have pumped water when the Castle was used as a farm.
The pump house is next to a concrete foundation and a covered well or reservoir.
Inside is a Blake reciprocating pump, although whatever powered it has gone.
This is the same John Blake who are better known for hydraulic rams.
Like most engineering firms at the time they made a variety of things including conventional pumps.
A couple of miles away is another little pump house with a reciprocating Blake pump.
It appears between 1860 and 1895 and seems to have been connected with local reservoirs.
I didn’t see a label, but it looks like the next size up from the previous example.
It was driven by a Petter petrol engine with an exhaust schnozzle on the outside wall.
The final one, near Alvechurch, is probably the most complete example of pumping from a borehole I’ve found.
From the outside it looks like a garden shed, and probably pumped water for a nearby farm.
Inside a combustion engine turned a crank, driving plunger pumps at the bottom of the well.
Looking down the well, with the outlet pipe running up behind the two pump rods.
Of the above, the Blake pumps seem the most unusual, or at least the only examples I’ve come across.
But it’s hard to tell since in contrast to hydraulic rams, of which there must be hundreds still around, fairly complete reciprocating pump houses are rare.
Most small pump houses shown on old maps are empty or not there at all.
But sometimes there’s enough left to be worth recording, bearing in mind that what remains may be just the last iteration of what was installed over the years as technology changed.
All Photos are phone.
Starting with one near Darlington, this may have pumped water from a flooded clay pit to a brick and tile works (now converted into a B&B).
The pump house appears between 1912 and 1940 on maps and has a petrol engine driving a little centrifugal pump via a long belt (missing).
No maker’s label on either engine or pump that I could see.
The next one is at the bottom of a ravine where the Cor Burn runs past Aydon Castle in Northumberland.
It appears sometime between 1860 and 1895 may have pumped water when the Castle was used as a farm.
The pump house is next to a concrete foundation and a covered well or reservoir.
Inside is a Blake reciprocating pump, although whatever powered it has gone.
This is the same John Blake who are better known for hydraulic rams.
Like most engineering firms at the time they made a variety of things including conventional pumps.
A couple of miles away is another little pump house with a reciprocating Blake pump.
It appears between 1860 and 1895 and seems to have been connected with local reservoirs.
I didn’t see a label, but it looks like the next size up from the previous example.
It was driven by a Petter petrol engine with an exhaust schnozzle on the outside wall.
The final one, near Alvechurch, is probably the most complete example of pumping from a borehole I’ve found.
From the outside it looks like a garden shed, and probably pumped water for a nearby farm.
Inside a combustion engine turned a crank, driving plunger pumps at the bottom of the well.
Looking down the well, with the outlet pipe running up behind the two pump rods.
Of the above, the Blake pumps seem the most unusual, or at least the only examples I’ve come across.
But it’s hard to tell since in contrast to hydraulic rams, of which there must be hundreds still around, fairly complete reciprocating pump houses are rare.
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