Abbey Mills Pumping Station Grounds

Land at Millmeads was acquired by the Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) for sanitary purposes in c.1860, prior to which it was used in part by the London Omnibus Company for grazing their horses. The earliest development of the site took place in 1865-8 when Abbey Mills Pumping Station was built as Station A, designed by architect Charles Driver under Joseph Bazalgette, the MBW's chief engineer. Bazalgette was responsible for the Northern Outfall Sewer that took sewage from all over London to sewage treatment works at Beckton. The OS London-Essex VIII.32 map, scale 5 ft to 1 mile, and the OS 25 ins First Edition map (London XXIX), both surveyed in 1867, show the Northern Outfall Sewer to the north of Stratford Marsh and Mill Meads, which were as yet undeveloped. By that time land north of the Outfall Sewer, on the site of St Mary's Abbey, had numerous industrial buildings, including Print Works, Indiarubber Works, Abbey Bleaching and Chemical Works, Leather Cloth Works, as well as some residential housing with gardens and at least two public house. The OS map of 1893, London VIII.32 shows the Abbey Mills Pumping Station constructed, just to the south of the Northern Outfall Sewer, by which time West Ham Gas Works had been constructed to the north of the Outfall. In common with other early sites owned by the water industry, the buildings here had landscaped grounds, with grass and trees planted and flower borders laid out, which were reputedly immaculately maintained. The Superintendent at Abbey Mills also had a garden. The OS 25 ins map revised 1914 (Essex New Series, LXXXVI.5) shows the pumping station with trees, paths and a lodge at the site entrance on Abbey Lane. Allotment gardens remain to the south. The Air Photo Mosaic Sheet at 1:1250 scale TQ3883 S.E. prepared from photos taken in April 1946 provides an interesting view of the site, with trees and planting among the buildings. The OS 1:1250 revised maps of 1948 and 1963 show the Pumping Station site in detail with its buildings, roadways and trees (TQ3883SE - A and - B).

Abbey Mills Pumping Station was designed to lift lower level sewage into the Outfall and housed eight steam-driven beam engines. An extravagantly-ornamented building it was nicknamed 'the Cathedral of Sewage'; it is an early example of Charles Driver's work, whose designs included stations on the South London line, at Box Hill and Tunbridge Wells West. He established a considerable practice including overseas commissions. The Pumping Station's two Moorish-style chimneys were demolished in WWII for fear they would be used as bomber landmarks, although by then they were no longer in use since electric motors had replaced steam power in 1933. However, the old pumping station still houses pumps as standby, for example in times of storm, for the new aluminium-clad pumping station, Station F built by Thames Water to the south in 1994-7. This was designed by architects Allies and Morrison with the surrounding area landscaped with shrubs and trees. The old Abbey Mills Pumping Station and the new pumping station are both visible from The Greenway (q.v.). The remaining part of Thames Water's landholding here is now occupied in part by allotments, with part now a nature reserve.

By the late C20th the grounds at Abbey Mills were receiving less attention although in 2006 it was noted that the grass was being cut several times a year, leaves collected and trees pollarded as required. The Old Pumping Station's original elaborately painted ironwork, decorated with floral motifs and bronzed and gilded elements, was restored between 2015-2018. The historic part of the site including the old Pumping Station has opened to the public on certain days, for example during London Open House.

Stratford Langthorne Abbey was founded in 1135, within whose precincts was an Abbey Mill that had previously been known as Wiggen Mill, which was the earliest tidal mill in West Ham. In the early C12th the mill had been given to Barking Abbey by Queen Maud as part of an endowment for the upkeep of Bow and Channelsea Bridges. It was later bought by the Stratford Abbey, in whose ownership it remained until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the C16th. Mainly used for corn milling, the mill was rebuilt in 1768 and again in the 1860s but was burnt down during WWII and most of the ruin was removed in 1967.

Thames Water's new Thames Tideway Tunnel project for a 25 km tunnel running west to east London under the River Thames began in 2015, and is designed to protect the river from sewage pollution. Tideway (Bazalgette Tunnel Limited), the company delivering the project is owned by a consortium of investors. The project will cost £4.6bn to complete, paid for by Thames Water’s 15 million wastewater customers through their bills, which will rise by no more than £25 per year. Construction took place at 24 sites across London with the project anticipated to be completed in 2025, and to date (2026) the majority of sites have been completed. At Abbey Mills the Tideway Tunnel connects into the Lee Tunnel linking Abbey Mills to Beckton Sewage Treatment Works. The Tunnel Shaft is to the south of the pumping stations on the former site of allotment gardens.