Crofton Beam Engines Late May Steaming

Crofton Beam Engines offer a fascinating glimpse into Britain’s industrial heritage, showcasing the oldest working beam engine in the World, still in its original location, still doing its original job,

Our Boiler will be fired up and our engines working to pump a tonne of water a stroke to make sure the Kennet and Avon Canal is topped up with water. Dating back to 1812 our oldest beam engines was installed the year that Napoleon retreated from Moscow. This is a truly historic site from the early days of the industrial revolution and the growth of the canals.

We welcome families and have plenty of activities for children. From helping turn on the steam for an engine to start its work to working out how our large scale model lock system works; there is plenty to do to learn about lifting water. We will also have our famous duck race, at 12:30 on both open days. We have a dedicated children's area where children can dress up in boiler suits like our volunteers, colour in our "stain glass window" picture of Crofton or try their hand at colouring our Kennet and Avon Canal 75th anniversary colouring competition. We also have a children's trail around the whole site. There is a prize for completing the trail and for the first and last duck to escape the pumps and make it to our bridge.

Crofton is at its spring best during the late May Bank Holiday; our wildflower areas are full of many different types of flowers and buzzing with butterflies.

Visit our tearoom for tea, coffee, cake and more. We have several picnic areas and you are welcome to bring a picnic and enjoy the beautiful views across the canal to Wilton Water and beyond.

Our expert volunteers bring the site to life on steaming days and are very happy to show you how our boiler and engines work and tell you about the history of Crofton.

General information

Parking is free on Steaming days. Due to the historic nature of our site not all levels in our pumping station are wheel chair accessible, although most of the site is. We welcome well behaved dogs on leads to the site, only assistance dogs are allowed into the pumping station itself. See our website for details of entry prices and to book tickets.