Coleham Pump Station 

Steam and vintage machinery museum.

Shrewsbury

Operated entirely by the volunteers of The Shrewsbury Steam Trust.

Building & Contents Grade II listed by English Heritage. "is a remarkably complete example of a relatively small plant" 

Winners of a Listed Status Award from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.  

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   Coleham Pumping Station,

  Resembling a Victorian Chapel in style, was built circa 1900 to house two massive steam-driven beam engines.

    The Museum comprises the Pumping Station buildings, which are listed with Historic England as being of architectural importance, and in-situ beam-engines plus the boilers and other items belonging to Shrewsbury Steam Trust. The Pumping Station is owned by Shrewsbury Museums Service (part of Shropshire Council).The museum is opened to the public on selected dates during the year. See open days for information.

The Shropshire Star reported the opening ceremony on January 4th 1901 here. The two beam engines were built in-situ by Renshaws of Stoke in 1897/1898. They were used to pump sewage as part of Shrewsbury's new sewerage system. The coal-fired boilers drove the beam engines that operated the pumps until 1970. After that date ownership of the building, machinery and grounds was transferred to Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council (later to become Shropshire Council) to ensure the history and machinery was preserved for all to see.

The Council have asked for a formal operating agreement to be drawn up with the Trust.  Until this is in place we have been asked not to admit the public to the Pumping Station.

Update  posted 4/6/2024

"We are pleased to report that the Shrewsbury Steam Trust has been awarded charitable status. We are now a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. This has various benefits. The main one in the short term is that it gives us a separate legal identity, which makes it possible to make formal, binding agreements with various official bodies."

Video - History of Coleham Pumping Station by Ian Cooper. here

The sounds of the pumping station working during 1968.

Open Days....

Regular during the year

Steam....

Operating the machinery

Railways....

In the rear yard