Description

SANDWELL MB BIRMINGHAM CANAL
SP 0188 NE
Birmingham Level, Smethwick
19/14 Smethwick new Pumping House
approximately 50 metres
29.12.78
north-west of Brasshouse Lane

II

Pumping house between Smeaton's Old Main Line on the Wolverhampton Level and
Telford's New Main Line on the Birmingham Level. 1892. Brick with slate roof.
One storey to Old Main Line and two storeys to New Main Line. Lower storey
has four-bay blind arcade with impost band, and a smaller doorway within
right-hand arch. The upper storey has four windows with segmental heads, the
two right-hand ones blocked, and a drip course. Miniature false machicolation
to the eaves; adjoining to the left is the ashes hole with a doorway for removing
the ash. Hipped slate roof in two spans, with louvred ridge ventilators. Right-
hand return wall of three bays, with blocked windows. North-east wall, facing
upper level, has two wide elliptical arches with smaller inner segmental arches.
The right-hand one is blocked, the left-hand one is a doorway. In front of the
right-hand archway are the foundation walls of the coal hole. Interior: steel
roof trusses. History: This pumping house replaced two earlier pumping stations
on the Engine Arm of the Birmingham Canal. It was the last to be erected on
this section of the canal and housed two vertical compound engines driving
centrifugal pumps capable of lifting 200 locks per day. In 1905 one engine was
removed for use at Bentley, the remaining one being in use until the early 1920s.
The pumphouse is a prominent feature of the canalside landscape.

Listing NGR: SP0192688913

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26343598

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas