A Potted History of Crofton Pumping Station
1788
Kennet & Avon History
Western Canal Project Initiated.
This was the name give to the project to construct the Kennet & Avon Canal.
1794
Kennet & Avon History
Start of construction of the Kennet & Avon Canal.
1802
Crofton History
First engine ordered.
1804
World History
First steam powered engine pulling carriages (Trevithick’s Pennydarren).
1809
Crofton History
First engine installed.
World History
Matthew Boulton dies.
1810
Crofton History
Second engine (Now No.1) ordered.
Kennet & Avon History
Construction of the Kennet & Avon Canal finished.
World History
The screw cutting lathe is invented (Henry Maudsley).
1812
Crofton History
Second engine (Now No.1) installed.
1813
Kennet & Avon History
Claverton Pumping Station opens.
1819
World History
James Watt dies.
1821
World History
John Rennie dies.
1825
World History
First commercial railway(Stockton to Darlington).
1835
World History
Construction of the Great Western Railway starts
Railway Line London – Bristol
1836
Crofton History
Wilton Water created.
1841
World History
- Construction of the Great Western Railway finishes.
- Sir Joseph Whitworth proposes a standard for screw threads.
1843 – 1846
Crofton History
- Waggon boilers replaced with Cornish.
- Pressure increased to 20psi (1.4bar).
- 1809 engine replaced with SIMS Patent Combined Cylinders Engine.
- Side boiler house (now cafe) built to house two Cornish boilers to power the SIMS.
1852
Kennet & Avon History
The Kennet & Avon Canal is taken over by the Great Western Railway.
World History
The new Houses of Parliament, Great Ormand St. Hospital, and the the Palace of Westminster open.
1855
World History
Sir Henry Bessemer patents process for the economical manufacture of steel.
1856
Crofton History
The present brick chimney built.
The SIMS engine falls into disrepair.
1860
World History
First practical gas engine (Etienne Lenior).
1877
Kennet & Avon History
Canal makes first trading loss.
Between 1860 and 1890 the Kennet & Avon canal was allowed to fall into disrepair.
1885
World History
First radio transmission (Heinrich Hertz).
1890
Kennet & Avon History
Through traffic on the canal has ceased.
World History
- Forth Rail Bridge opens.
- Cardboard box invented (Robert Gair).
- Method of using punched cards for automatic tabulation of data is devised (Herman Hollerith).
1896
Crofton History
- 1812 engine fails and is repaired.
- A railway engine is installed at Crofton to pump water whilst repairs are carried out.
- The Cornish boilers replaced with Lancashire type.
1898
World History
Rudolf Diesel patents his engine.
1903
World History
First powered aircraft (Wright Bros.)
1905
Crofton History
The Sims engine was rebuilt
It had a new 1.07 m (42 inch) bore cylinder designed and manufactured in the GWR works at Swindon and the engine was reassembled as a conventional Cornish Cycle engine. At the same time, the three remaining Cornish boilers in the main boiler house were replaced by a second Lancashire boiler.
1930
Kennet & Avon History
Canal virtually impassable as a through route.
World History
- British airship R101 crashes.
- First airline stewardess (Ellen Church).
- Neutron is discovered (Bothe and Becker).
- First cow to fly on an aeroplane (Elm Farm Ollie).
1949
Kennet & Avon History
Annual Devizes to Westminster canoe race inaugurated.
1951
Kennet & Avon History
Caen Hill Flight declared unsafe.
The Kennet & Avon Canal Association formed.
World History
The transistor is invented (William Shokley).
1957
World History
First artificial satellite (Sputnik 1).
1959
Crofton History
Chimney reduced in height by 30ft (9m) due to instability.
Loss of draught so boilers cannot steam and the engines are retired.
1962
Kennet & Avon History
The Avon Canal Association becomes The Kennet & Avon Canal Trust.
World History
- First active communications satellite (Telstar).
- Cuban missile crisis.
- First Beatles record.
1968
Crofton History
Crofton Pumping Station is purchased by The Kennet & Avon Canal Trust.
Restoration begins.
World History
- The flight of the Boeing 747 passenger jet.
- The Beatles announce the creation of Apple Records.
- Apollo 8 orbits the Moon – the first humans to see the moon.
- The semiconductor company Intel is founded.
- Martin Luther King is assassinated.
1969
World History
First manned moon landing (Apollo 11).
1970
Crofton History
1812 engine runs for first time under preservation.
Crofton opened to the public.
1971
Crofton History
1846 engine runs for first time under preservation.
World History
First commercial microprocessor (The Intel 4004).
1981
World History
First ‘PC’ (the IBM 5150).
1990
Kennet & Avon History
Canal reopened by HRH Queen Elizabeth II.
World History
- The term ‘World Wide Web’ is concocted (Tim Berners-Lee).
- The Berlin Wall is breached.
- Both ends of the Channel Tunnel are joined up.
1996
Crofton History
Chimney restored to original height.
World History
- First successfully cloned mammal is born ‘Dolly The Sheep’.
- France abandons nuclear testing.
2003
Kennet & Avon History
Celebration of completion of the Canal restoration project.
HRH Prince Charles visits Crofton Pumping Station.
2007
Crofton History
The celebration of Crofton Pumping Station’s bicentenary.
World History
- Space shuttle Columbia disintegrates on re-entry.
- Concorde makes its last commercial flight.
2009
Crofton History
Crofton Pumping Station called into action to ‘rescue’ the Canal when the modern electric pump fails.
World History
- The Icelandic banking system collapses.
- The pop star Michael Jackson dies.
- ‘Swine Flu’ is deemed a global pandemic.
2011
Crofton History
Crofton joins Facebook – our first post was on 15 November 2011
2012
Crofton History
The celebration of the No. 1 engine’s bicentenary.
HRH Duke of Gloucester visits Crofton to commemorate the occasion.
World History
- The cruise liner ‘Costa Concordia’ sinks.
- Britain begins the ‘digital TV switch over’.
- London Olympics
- Queen’s Diamond Jubliee
2013
World History
Chelyabinsk Meteorite explosion 14 Feb
March 2013 Daw Mill Colliery, the last deep coal mine in the West Midlands and source of some of Crofton’s coal, closes
2014
World History
17 November world oil price hits record low
2015
Kennet & Avon History
25 years since the Kennet & Avon Canal was reopened throughout its length
Crofton History
Boiler Header Pond restoration, funded by Association for Industrial Archaeology (AIA) Grant
World History
December – Kellingley colliery in Yorkshire closes, bringing to an end deep coal mining in the UK
July 2015 NASA New Horizons becomes first space probe to fly past Pluto
September 2015 Volkswagen car emissions scandal
2016
Crofton History
Crofton’s National Lottery Heritage Fund Stage 1 Bid submitted
Transport Trust Red Wheel plaque awarded to Crofton
Crofton joins Instagram
World History
UK votes to leave the European Union 24 June
2017
Crofton History
Crofton Boiler Repairs – 400 new rivets installed
NLHF Stage 2 Bid
Crofton NLHF BID IS SUCCESSFUL £559,000 grant towards £845,000 project costs
World History
On 21 April 2017, Britain went a full day without using coal power to generate electricity for the first time since the Industrial Revolution, according to the National Grid
2018
Crofton History
NLHF Building Conservation works completed and rebuild/extension of toilet block
50 years of Crofton’s Preservation
World History
February Elon Musk launches a Tesla roadster car into space
April 2018 Britain went for 55 hours and then 72 hours without using coal to generate electricity
November deadliest US wildfire in a century in California
2019
World History
Bicentenary of James Watt’s Death
