Abbey Pumping Station

The Abbey Pumping Station, built in 1891, served as a sewage works pumping station. It is constructed of red brick with stone dressings on a glazed brick plinth, topped with a slate hipped roof that features a tent-shaped roof light at the ridge with finials.

This large rectangular building has two storeys and is characterized by wide brick angle pilasters, a projecting stone cornice with triglyphs in the frieze, and aeroteria above. The brick parapet and stone bands add to its architectural detail. The first floor features three large stone three-light Tuscan pilastered windows, each with console brackets serving as pilasters for the lights above and an apron frieze below. A central stone doorway with a pediment is approached by steps and is flanked by ornate iron lamp standards and semi-circular bay windows, which have stone panelled pilasters between the lights and a cornice and parapet above.

Inside, the station contains four beam engines with twenty-nine-foot beams, which were among the last of their kind to be built, manufactured by Messrs Grimson of Leicester. The interior also features large decorated iron supporting columns.

To the left of the main building is a lower extension, while to the right stands a tall detached brick chimney with tapered octagonal shafts. This chimney is adorned with a decorative stone band near the top and a stone cornice, and it rests on a large square pedestal with a stone entablature.