Waterworks

Kinver Pumping Station

Kinver Water Works March 2012

The pumping station at Kinver is a beautifully designed Art Deco Building, built on a piled base with a classical ornate stone cornice and a Lantern Roof.   Inspiration indeed for the design of  modern day trend of an Orangery.

In the late Victorian period, all the surrounding towns had their own water supply, but  Kinver still relied upon wells and spring water.  The communal village pump was located at the bottom of  The Holloway.   In 1902, the water supply to the High Street was condemned, and a petition was raised by the villagers to persuade the council to supply mains water.   The council approached Birmingham Corporation who owned the  Elan Valley Aqueduct which runs near to Iverley Farm, and Stourbridge Waterworks Company.  The prices quoted by Birmingam Corporation were unaffordable, and Stourbridge flatly refused.   It is ironic that water  supply to Kinver was refused, but water is now pumped from Kinver to feed the Elan Valley Aqueduct to supply water to Birmingham, causing Sterrymere Lake and local wells to dry up leading to the abandoning of the cave houses. 
 

Kinver Pumping Station Image (3)

The local authority of the time,  ”Seisdon Rural District Council ”,   located a suitable source of spring water.  The council bought the mill and installed a new water wheel to generate power to pump water to a new underground reservoir on Kinver Edge.  The waterworks were opened on Tuesday, November 10th, 1908 when a celebration meal was held at the White Harte.  The after dinner speaker said   ”there now existed an inexhaustible supply of water available to everyone. It was well known that Kinver was the healthiest parish in the Seisdon Union, and with a good supply of water, they might now expect to live for ever”

Following an Act of Parliament in 1922,  the plant was bought from The Kinver Water Company by The South Staffordshire Waterworks Company in 1929.  The parish council objected to the sale stating “the birthright of the village was being sold”.   A condition of the sale was that the waterwheel was removed, and as a result the remaining pumps could not supply sufficient water for the thousands of tourists. 

Kinver Bore Holes (4)

Enville was connected to the mains in 1933, and it was becoming apparent that a new larger plant was required.  Negotiations began in 1936 to purchase land owned by Alfred Marsh of Dunsley Hall.  The land had been used as the terminus of the Kinver Light Railway, located between the river and the canal.   An act of Parliament was passed for capital to build Kinver Pumping Station.

Work on new boreholes was carried out between October 1936 and November 1937 by the contractors C. Isler and Company of London.  Number One borehole was sunk to a depth of 750 feet and three inches and was lined with 44 inch to 40 inch diameter solid lining tubes to a depth of 93 feet, and from this depth to 123 feet, the borehole was lined with 40 inch slotted lining tubes. No. 2 borehole was lined with 44 inch diameter solid lining tubes to a depth of 77 feet and from this depth to 123 feet it was lined with 40 inch slotted lining tubes. Both boreholes were 39 inch diameter unlined from 123 feet to 342 feet and below 342 feet are 23 inch diameter, unlined. Throughout the whole depth, the boring was carried out in the new red sandstone. (1)

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Thomas Lowe of Burton on Trent constructed the pumping station and cottage, which were designed in a modern style with a flat concrete roof and oversailing cornice.  Owing to the nature of the ground, the station was built on a piled base comprising a concrete raft carried on sixty five, cast in situ reinforced concrete piles.  The buildings were finished externally with red matte facing bricks supplied by Messrs. Morris of Oldbury.  The pumping plant consisted of two electrically driven vertical spindle centrifugal pumping sets with borehole and booster pumps on the same spindle. (1)

Messrs. Sulzer Bros. of London Ltd. supplied the pumps and British Thompson Houston Company Ltd supplied the motors. Water from the station was pumped through a twenty four inch steel main, laid alongside the old tramway to Shavers End Reservoir, Dudley. Sterilisation was carried out by the addition of chlorine which was injected down the borehole. Work was completed in 1939  (1)

 The pumping of the water from the boreholes resulted in the lowering of the water table.  Well’s in the village dried up, but entire communities lost their source of drinking water due to the wells drying up, such as the small hamlet at Samson’s Cave
 
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 Citations

  1.  SouthStaffsWaterArchive, Van Leerzem & Williams
  2. Pictures other than (3)  and (4)  ©©2012  KinverOnline and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence