A Visit To A Victorian Engineering Marvel: Crossness Pumping Station In London

If you’re looking for something truly off-beat to do in London, look no further than a Victorian sewage pumping station that’s being lovingly restored by a dedicated group of volunteers.

I’ve got to be honest – I never thought I’d be writing a full blog post on a pumping station, yet here we are. And that’s because this place is INCREDIBLE.

Known as “the Cathedral of Sewage”, which is a title anyone would be envious of, this pumping station was opened in 1865 and was in use for nearly 100 years. Now, after an extensive restoration process, it’s open to the public on special Steaming Days or for guided tours.

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But why would anyone want to visit a sewage pumping station, I hear you ask? Well, hopefully the photos alone show why this needs to be seen to be believed!

Victorian engineering was seriously impressive, and Crossness Pumping Station is occasionally open on Sundays to show off one of the engines, Prince Consort, in action. In fact, these are thought to be the largest rotative beam engines left in the world, so the fact one is now working again is pretty amazing – but it took over 15 years for this to come into being, so it was a huge process.

There is something about Victorian design too, that makes it stand out against most modern structures. Iron detailing and interesting colours are so much better than boring greys and glass and metal. Something as simple as a gate was made to look nice as well as functional.

The design of the Octagon pillars has figs hanging down, which is actually relevant because figs are a laxative! But that figs are part of the design at all sets it apart from modern factories and facilities that are purely plain and practical. We need to bring back whimsy.

As well as the impressive Octagon, you can also head upstairs to see the engine in action from above as well as below.

Not gonna lie – the floor upstairs is a bit trippy!

They also give you hard hats and safety goggles to wear on your visit in the beam engine house, and you may have noticed there is netting across the top of the Octagon at the moment, because there has been falling debris.

This is an ongoing project so there are parts that are still the original as found, but I actually really liked that some of it is still untouched, and I hope it stays that way, because seeing the original deterioration made me appreciate the restoration work even more.

The beam engine house is the star attraction, but there’s also a valve house storing smaller engines, with demonstrations of each. On hand are volunteers to answer any questions you might have and to explain more about how they work.

In the main building, there’s an exhibition about the history of sewage in London and the role this place played in improving public hygiene overall. There is a little information on the beam engine, but I have to say I agree with my friend who said she wished there was more about the actual facility than just hygiene in general.

Oh, and some lovely decorative toilets. Dontcha wish your toilet was… yeah, I’m gonna stop.

That said, there were demonstrations held on the workings of the engine, which we ended up skipping as we’d missed the start. There’s also a film which plays on a loop explaining more about the history, and of course all the volunteers are happy to chat.

They also have a little café serving tea for £1.50 which is the cheapest cup of tea I’ve had in about 20 years. There’s even a pop-up bar serving local beers though I doubt they are quite as cheap.

And, of course, don’t miss the very poo-themed shop!

You could truly spend hours here – we spent about two hours looking around before heading to central London for lunch before my train home. We didn’t feel rushed, but there are a few ways we could have spent more time there.

Getting to Crossness Pumping Station

Crossness is kind of out in the middle of nowhere, with the nearest station being Abbey Wood, which is the final stop on the Elizabeth Line. It’s closer to Dartford than it is to London proper, but it is at least simple to get to.

However, for the open days, transport is provided from Abbey Wood. I have to say this is one of the highlights of the entire visit!

From Abbey Wood, you can hop on a classic red Routemaster double decker bus! This was my first time on one of these vintage buses, so this was a fantastic experience in itself.

It then drops you off quite a way from the pumping station itself so that you can ride a little railway up to the pumping station! This is the RANG railway – Royal Arsenal Narrow Gauge. Oh, and it’s also called The Excrement Express!!

They even add flags if they find out people are visiting from around the world, which is a lovely touch. There were two people from Vancouver on our bus, hence a Canadian flag being added. If you’re lucky, they might even let you sit in the cab to toot the whistle before it leaves!

The Routemaster bus runs every half an hour from 9.45am, with the pumping station opening at 10am. The train then runs regularly, every 10 minutes or so.

We decided to aim for the first bus so we could maximise our time, and this was definitely the right choice – I was quite surprised by how busy it was (we actually waited for the second train as it filled up), but when we were leaving at around midday, there was a queue to get into the pumping station and, as we got off the little train, a huge queue of families waiting to get on.

Find out more about the pumping station and upcoming open days here. It costs £22.50 to visit on the Steam Days, and you can book morning or afternoon.

I definitely recommend it, as it’s one of the most unique things I’ve done in London! The volunteers are really passionate and friendly, and you can tell they love being part of this project. It feels like something that’s not only worth visiting to see for yourself, but also something that’s worth supporting.