Sandhills Pumping Station

Sandhills Pumping Station is a water pumping station built in 1935 by F J Dixon, chief engineer for the South Staffordshire Waterworks Company, and constructed by Thomas Lowe and Sons. It is built in a stripped-classical style. The building is primarily red brick in a Flemish bond, with dressings of red Hollington stone.

The engine house has a rectangular footprint, aligned north-west to south-east, with a lower, rear service block. It is a single-storey building with a basement. The front elevation, with three bays, is accessed by stone steps flanked by dwarf walls, leading to a central entrance with double-glazed doors and a fanlight within a rounded-arch, featuring a deep key-stone and moulded brick surrounds. A 1935 date stone sits above the arch. Flanking the entrance are large windows with glazing bars, both within arched openings mirroring the central arch. Clasping pilaster strips with rusticated brick detailing are positioned at either end of the elevation. Above is a plain cornice band, beneath a wide stone panel inscribed “SANDHILLS / SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE WATERWORKS COMPANY”, topped by a stepped parapet. The returns have narrow bays containing a single, round-arched window in the same style as the front elevation. The rear elevation has an asymmetrical arrangement of windows and doors. The side elevations each feature a single bay with a large central window with glazing and margin bars, positioned above a basement window, and flanked by recessed herring-bone patterned panels.

The engine hall’s interior has red, green, and cream tiled walls and a red tiled floor laid in a herringbone pattern. Two wells are situated in the centre of the room, surrounded by tubular metal railings. An overhead cast-iron crane gantry, manufactured by Herbert Morris Ltd, is supported by pilasters. The roof is a metal-framed structure with braced rafters. The service range houses a tiled manager's office, which contains a framed historic plan of the pumping station, alongside other tiled service rooms. A set of stairs with tubular metal railings leads to the basement, which contains brick tanks, drains, and maintenance corridors. Most of the original internal timber doors remain, along with the original foundation plaque and temperature and depth gauges. Later additions, including two electric pumps and a central modern control centre, are not considered to be of special interest.

Detached service buildings to the rear, including two concrete sheds and a brick chlorine treatment centre, are not included in the listing.