page_title: British Engineerium
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: British Engineerium / History
caption_attribution_description: Chimney at the British Engineerium (former Goldstone Pumping Station), Hove, City of Brighton and Hove, England. Built in 1866. Listed at Grade II* by English Heritage (IoE Code 363578)
context_page_description: The British Engineerium is an engineering and steam power museum in Hove, East Sussex. It is housed in the Goldstone Pumping Station, a set of High Victorian Gothic buildings started in 1866. The Goldstone Pumping Station supplied water to the local area for more than a century before it was converted to its present use. The site has been closed to the public since 2006, and in March 2018 the entire complex was put up for sale.
  At its greatest extent, between 1884 and 1952, the complex consisted of two boiler houses with condensing engines, a chimney, coal cellars, workshop, cooling pond, leat and underground reservoir. Situated on top of a naturally fissured chalk hollow, it provided vast quantities of water to the rapidly growing towns of Hove and its larger neighbour, the fashionable seaside resort of Brighton, for more than a century. As new sources of water were found elsewhere and more modern equipment installed to exploit them, the pumping station's importance declined, and by 1971 the Brighton Water Department had closed it and threatened the complex with demolition.
context_section_description: Brighton and neighbouring Hove, on the English Channel coast between the South Downs and the sea, were built on top of a vast aquifer of chalk.  A regular supply of naturally pure water was always available from this natural reservoir, and in the settlements' early days many wells were sunk to exploit it.  The rapid growth of Brighton in the 18th and early 19th century, followed by similar expansion in Hove, put pressure on the local authorities to provide more sources and a better supply system, though: wells became increasingly contaminated by sewage from cesspits, and some had to be blocked because they were so polluted, reducing the two towns' water supply further.  The first local water company—the Brighton, Hove and Preston Waterworks Company—was founded on 16 June 1834 by means of an Act of Parliament; it built a waterworks on the road to Lewes and provided piped water for two hours per day to a few wealthy customers.  This facility had two 20-horsepower beam engines.
  By the 1850s, more water was needed for the continually expanding population: the intermittent supply from the Lewes Road waterworks was the only alternative to wells and boreholes.  In 1853, a new company was formed with the aim of introducing a large-scale, consistent supply to Brighton, Hove and surrounding villages.  The Brighton, Hove and Preston Constant Water Service Company bought its predecessor, the Waterworks Company, in 1854.  By the time it was in turn acquired by Brighton Corporation in 1872 (by means of another Act of Parliament), it was pumping 2,600,000 imperial gallons (12,000,000 l) per day to 18,000 houses in Brighton, Hove and the surrounding villages of Falmer, Hangleton, Ovingdean, Patcham, Preston and Rottingdean.
  The company employed eminent civil engineer Thomas Hawksley to find a suitable site for a new pumping station.  Hawksley built more waterworks than any of his Victorian counterparts: he oversaw more than 150 schemes in Britain and abroad.  In 1858, he advised the company that the shallow chalk valley at Goldstone Bottom, at the south end of West Blatchington village just outside Hove, would be a good candidate for exploratory drilling.  Test wells were sunk, and confirmed his impression.  The company bought the 3.5 acres (1.4 ha) of land in 1862, and in 1865 it was granted permission to build a pumping station on the site.  By this stage, the Lewes Road facility was suffering from pollution, and the opening of another pumping station at Falmer and the building of more reservoirs had not been sufficient to satisfy demand.
  Work took place during 1866, and the facility opened in that year with the name Goldstone Pumping Station.  The Brighton, Hove and Preston Constant Water Service Company operated it until their acquisition by Brighton Corporation.  In its original form, the complex consisted of a boiler house and adjacent engine room, coal cellars and a chimney described by one historian as "truly monumental", all built of polychrome brick.  The engine room housed a 120-horsepower beam engine made by Charles Amos of London-based manufacturer Easton and Amos.  It was a compound engine of the type patented by engineer Arthur Woolf.  Water was drawn from a 160-foot (49 m) well which started immediately below the engine, which was known as the "Number 1 Engine".  It was driven by three Lancashire boilers with twin furnaces, which were fed by two coal cellars.  Up to 130,000 imperial gallons (590,000 l) of water could be pumped per hour.
  In 1872, ownership of Goldstone Pumping Station and all other water facilities in the Brighton area passed to Brighton Corporation, who formed a new committee called the Brighton Water Corporation to operate them.  Demand for water continued to rise, so in 1876 the Corporation undertook a major expansion of the pumping station.  A second engine room was added, and a separate coal storage shed was built in the grounds.  Workshop facilities were also provided, with a range of machine tools, forge, lathe and planer and a separate Easton and Amos steam engine (apparently left over from The Gr
caption: The chimney at the former pumping station is 95 feet (29 m) tall.
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