19th century water pumping station, Great Warley (EHER 15573)

Water pumping station of 1882 for the South Essex Waterworks Company, lifting water to Brentwood. The engine house is a tall single-storey building of yellow brick with a slate roof. A lower single-storey building fronts on the road. There is a third single-storey building on the site, and a corrugated iron building with a barrel roof. There is also a service reservoir on the site.

March 2001. Heritage assessment. The Great Warley Pumping Station was built in 1882 by the South Essex Waterworks Co., in response to increased demand. It was built as a lifting station to move water up to Brentwood. The complex comprises a pump house with gantry crane, two single-storey brick buildings (one dated S.E.W. 1886), a corrugated iron building with barrel roof and a service reservoir. It is still operating as a waterworks, the absence of modern additions and alterations externally suggests that much of the internal spatial and technological configurations may survive. <1> The South Essex Waterworks Co. established in 1861 and originally operating from a chalk quarry in Grays Thurrock, developed this site in 1882 as demand increased and the company widened its area of supply. Built as a lifting station to move water up to Brentwood, the site consists of a number of structures. The principal structure is the pump house (1) of yellow brick with a slate roof. It has the tall round-headed windows typical of such structures. There are red brick arches over the windows and a plinth of blue engineering bricks. With four windows on each of the long sides, the southwest end has two tall windows and the opposite end two similar windows and a door with a small round headed window above. Internally there is a gantry crane. A lower single-storey building (2) fronts onto the road. This too is of yellow brick with blue dressings around the doors and windows and a tin roof. The windows and doors are of similar style to those in the pump house only smaller. The gable ends have decorative bargeboards and there is a wooden plaque on the northeast façade with 'S.E.W.W. 1886'. There is another single-storey building (3) similar in style to (2) and the fourth building is a corrugated iron building with a barrel roof (4). There is also a service reservoir on the site. <2> 2007. Field Survey. The buildings inspected during the survey included the Secondary Pump House, Primary Pump House, Store Hut, Square Storage Reservoir and Rectangular Storage Reservoir. It was found that these structures retained little in the way of original fixtures and fittings. The buildings were recorded prior to their conversion to B1 office use. <3> NRHE Summary Description: Water pumping station of 1882 for the South Essex Waterworks Company, lifting water to Brentwood. The engine house is a tall single-storey building of yellow brick with a slate roof. A lower single-storey building fronts on the road. There is a third single-storey building on the site, and a corrugated iron building with a barrel roof. There is also a service reservoir on the site. <4> See also: <5>