Crossness Pumping Station
Wednesday 18 May 2016 12.15 - 6pm
Meet on Piccadilly near the RA for coach
£60 (including coach, tea and cake). Booking required, Friends only.
Friends of the RA book first
Booking and attending Friends excursions and events
Friends are able to privately visit the ‘Cathedral on the Marsh,’ Crossness Pumping Station, designed by Joseph Bazelgette to alleviate the 1858 ‘Great Stink.’ Crossness is not often open to the public.
Noted for its gothic interior and polychromatic brickwork, Crossness also houses the four original pumping engines, which are thought to be the largest remaining rotative beam engines in the world. Friends tour this extraordinary building after a talk on its history, architecture, interiors, and the redevelopment works spearheaded by the Crossness Engines Trust. By very special arrangement the pumping engines will be fired up and Friends will be able to see the station as it would have functioned in its working days.
Unfortunately this visit is not suitable for people who experience vertigo, and will be challenging for Friends with limited mobility including those with walking aids.