Stretham Old Engine

Historic site in Stretham

Stretham Old Engine

Location| Stretham
Coordinates| 52°20′03″N 0°13′28″E﻿ / ﻿52.3342°N 0.2245°E﻿ / 52.3342; 0.2245
Area| Cambridgeshire
Built| 1831

Listed Building – Grade II*

Official name| Old Engine House
Designated| 13 May 1988
Reference no.| 1127031

Location of Stretham Old Engine in Cambridgeshire

Stretham Old Engine is a steam-powered engine just south of Stretham in Cambridgeshire, England, that was used to pump water from flood-affected areas of The Fens back into the River Great Ouse. It is one of only three surviving drainage engines in East Anglia, and is a Grade II* listed building.[1]

## History

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During the 17th century, large areas of fenland in East Anglia were reclaimed via extensive draining schemes. Despite this, crops and livestock were frequently swept away by widescale flooding as the land sank because of the drainage. As a partial solution, windpumps were used to pump water away from flood-affected areas, but relied on the weather and lacked the power required to lift large quantities of water. Wicken Fen nature reserve has a preserved and restored windpump, used to manage the water table in the Fen. The advent of steam power in the late 18th century offered a new solution, and these new engines began to spring up around The Fens.

## Steam engine

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Scoop wheel of the Stretham Old Engine

The steam engine on the Old West River (Great Ouse) just south of Stretham was built by the Butterley Company of Derbyshire in 1831, at a cost of £4950. It replaced four nearby windmills and its scoop wheel was used successfully for over a century to lift water from flood channels back into the river. Powered by coal that was brought by barge, it consumed a ton of fuel every four hours.

The rotative beam engine is of the double-acting type with a beam of 24 feet 8 inches (7.52 m) and a flywheel 24 feet (7.3 m) in diameter. The scoop wheel it drives has been successively enlarged as the level of the fens has shrunk: the first wheel was 29 feet (8.8 m), increased to 33 feet (10 m) in 1850 and to 37 feet 2 inches (11.33 m) in 1896 and lifted 120-150 tons of water per minute.

During use, the engine needed constant supervision, with the stoker and superintendent on 24-hour call. One superintendent even installed a telescope in his window so he could supervise the workmen without the need to get his feet wet.[citation needed]

## Replacement

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In 1924, the installation of a Mirrlees diesel engine saw the steam engine relegated to 'standby', and the last serious use was during the floods of 1939 and 1940. Prickwillow Museum contains a nearly identical Mirrlees diesel engine that has been preserved and restored to working order. The pumping station was later replaced with five smaller, more efficient, electrical pumps that drain into the River Cam and are still in use.

## Public opening

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The engine is open to the public on Sunday afternoons and Bank Holidays from the beginning of April to the end of October between 1.00pm and 5.00pm.

## Picture gallery

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Interior views

* Main cylinder head (foreground); valve cylinder (background); machine hall and flywheel

* The beam in the beam room. The beam room also acts as a museum.

* View of the engine

* 1925 Mirrlees diesel

* Butterley Co. boilers

## See also

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* Pinchbeck Engine
* Dogdyke Pumping Station

## References

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1. ^ Historic England. "Old Engine House (Grade II*) (1127031)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 November 2016.

* The Steam Pumping Station at Stretham, Cambridgeshire by EJA Kenny and R L Hills, Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 1963-4 Vol 236.
* Hills, R L (1965). Official Guide The Stretham Engine.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stretham Old Engine.

* Stretham Old Engine official website

* v
* t
* e

The Fens

* The Wash

West and East Fens|

* Boston
* Burgh le Marsh
* Carrington
* Sibsey
* East Kirkby
* Frithville
* Friskney
* Gibraltar Point
* Mareham le Fen
* Old Leake
* Stickford
* Stickney
* Skegness
* Wainfleet

Holland and Wildmore Fens|

* Bardney
* Billinghay
* Coningsby
* Heckington
* Martin
* Metheringham
* New York
* Nocton
* South Kyme
* Potterhanworth
* Washingborough
* Woodhall Spa

Lindsey Level|

* Bicker
* Billingborough
* Donington
* Dunsby
* Dowsby
* Fosdyke
* Gosberton
* Haconby
* Helpringham
* Horbling
* Kirton
* Quadring
* Pinchbeck
* Pointon
* Sempringham
* Spalding
* Sutterton
* Surfleet
* Swaton
* Swineshead

Whaplode Fen|

* Cowbit
* Fleet Hargate
* Gedney
* Gedney Drove End
* Holbeach
* Holbeach Hurn
* Holbeach St Marks
* Holbeach St Johns
* Long Sutton
* Lutton
* Moulton
* Sutton Bridge
* Sutton St James
* Weston
* Weston Hills
* Whaplode

Bourne and Deeping Fens|

* Baston
* Market Deeping
* Deeping St James
* Deeping St Nicholas
* Hop Pole
* Langtoft
* Thurlby
* Tongue End
* Twenty
* Pode Hole
* Bourne
* Morton and Hanthorpe
* Dyke

North Level|

* Crowland
* Gedney Hill
* Glinton
* Guyhirn
* Holbeach Drove
* Leverington
* Thorney
* Nene Washes
* Northborough
* Peterborough
* Sutton St Edmund
* Parson Drove
* Whaplode Drove
* Wisbech
* Wisbech St Mary

Middle Level|

* Chatteris
* Downham Market
* Denver
* King's Lynn
* March
* Ramsey
* Terrington St Clement
* Upwell
* Outwell
* Ouse Washes
* Welney
* Yaxley
* Walpole
* Wiggenhall St Germans
* Whittlesey

South Level|

* Burwell
* Cottenham
* Ely
* Haddenham
* Littleport
* Stretham
* Soham
* Lakenheath
* Mildenhall
* Sutton-in-the-Isle
* Waterbeach
* Wicken
* Willingham
* Witchford

Rivers|

* Great Ouse
* Nene
* Witham
* Haven
* Welland
* Glen
* Little Ouse
* Old Bedford
* New Bedford
* Lymn
* Cam

* Boston Stump
* Crowland Abbey
* Cross Keys Bridge
* Dogdyke Pumping Station
* Ely Cathedral
* Flag Fen
* Peterborough Cathedral
* Pinchbeck Engine
* Stretham Old Engine
* Tattershall Castle
* Trinity Bridge
* Thorney Abbey
* Ramsey Abbey

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