Crofton Beam Engines

Crofton Beam Engines, the world's oldest beam engines, still in their original location and still capable of doing the job they were originally designed to do, can be found near Marlborough. The engines, their boiler and their Grade I listed Engine House, Boiler House and Chimney are a superb monument to our industrial heritage. The pumping station was built to overcome a huge engineering challenge during the construction of the Kennet & Avon Canal. The summit of the canal was 12m (40ft) higher than any reliable local water source essential to keep the water levels in the canal topped up. To overcome this problem the pumping station was built at Crofton to keep the water topped-up.

Today you can step back in time to the world of steam and learn about the history of the pumping station and its restoration. Talk to volunteers in and around the site. Discover the engineering challenges and the people who overcame them to build the canal and make sure that it had a plentiful supply of water.

For further details about Crofton, opening times, when we are win steam running our engines, entry fees, parking etc, please visit our web site.