Introduction
Me and @JakeV50 spotted a chimney next to an active pumping station on the Norfolk Broads on satellite imagery, as it is fairly local to us we decided to take a look a few weekends ago. It didn’t end up being the most exciting place, but there were some interesting remains and a bit of history to go with it.
History
The grazing marshes of the Norfolk Broads have been drained since the 18th Century, insufficient drainage solutions resulted in flooding becoming commonplace during this time, therefore there was a requirement to introduce a multitude of drainage pumps to the area. At the time, a lot of these were wind-powered pumps, then later as technology progressed diesel and steam-powered pumps were used. Since the 1930s and 1940s, electric-powered pumps on the broads became much more common due to their cost and efficiency benefits. There are countless electric pumping stations on the broads today that do the same job these large old sites did, whilst requiring less power and space.
The site of Black Mill originally consisted of a wind-powered pump and was later replaced with a steam engine. The steam iteration of Black Mill was constructed in the mid-19th century. It is quite a significant historical site due to it having one of two full-height chimneys that remain intact on the broads. The site was known by Wherrymen as ‘Barbers Pole’ due to the chimney.
In 1882, the drainage pump was modernised with a new engine and chimney shaft provided by Holmes and Sons of Norwich. The pump originally had a scoopwheel but a turbine replaced this.
The site appears as Black Mill on early 1900s OS Maps:
The Explore & The Site Now
The site is in fairly poor condition and is difficult to access, it took almost an hour to get to the building from the closest parking opportunity, and we had to navigate several fields hoping there were footbridges when crossing the ditches. We eventually made it to the building and had to go over a very wobbly footbridge. It was very overgrown and due to the uneven surfaces it was a pain to use a tripod for photos, so I had to do handhelds for the most part.
We were hoping to find an old engine in the engine room, but this was removed a long time ago, adjacent to the engine room was a blocked room with some dilapidated metal remains in, perhaps this was the remains of the old boiler for the steam engine. The steam engine itself is thought to have been manufactured by Richard Garrett & Sons which was based in Suffolk.
There is a small gap in the wall next to the engine for an existing cogwheel above a Holmes & Son engineers iron pump cylinder, that is pretty much all that remains of Black Mill, with the chimney being the most in-tact part.
Onto the photos…
Approaching the site from a distance, you get a nice perspective of the chimney and engine house hidden beneath vegetation, with the modern pump in situ on the left:
Here's that wobbly footbridge I was talking about - not the safest with just one small support in the middle:
Here's a view from the river, the building itself is still barely visible even from here, but the beautiful octagonal chimney gives away its former use:
From the side, you're greeted with the only part of the structure that isn't covered by trees and vegetation:
A closer look at the cogwheel, in addition to a shot of it I got through the small gap in the wall near the old location of the engine:
This room is where the engine would have been situated, we were gutted to see it had been removed as the old engines are almost always the main highlight at these pumping stations:
The cast-iron piece was nice to see. This was manufactured by Holmes & Sons of Norwich. The company specialised in iron engineering and also manufactured agricultural machinery:
Finally, a couple of shots of the modern electric pumping station on site, before we balanced across the dodgy bridge and navigated the fields to get back to the car:
Thanks for looking!
Me and @JakeV50 spotted a chimney next to an active pumping station on the Norfolk Broads on satellite imagery, as it is fairly local to us we decided to take a look a few weekends ago. It didn’t end up being the most exciting place, but there were some interesting remains and a bit of history to go with it.
History
The grazing marshes of the Norfolk Broads have been drained since the 18th Century, insufficient drainage solutions resulted in flooding becoming commonplace during this time, therefore there was a requirement to introduce a multitude of drainage pumps to the area. At the time, a lot of these were wind-powered pumps, then later as technology progressed diesel and steam-powered pumps were used. Since the 1930s and 1940s, electric-powered pumps on the broads became much more common due to their cost and efficiency benefits. There are countless electric pumping stations on the broads today that do the same job these large old sites did, whilst requiring less power and space.
The site of Black Mill originally consisted of a wind-powered pump and was later replaced with a steam engine. The steam iteration of Black Mill was constructed in the mid-19th century. It is quite a significant historical site due to it having one of two full-height chimneys that remain intact on the broads. The site was known by Wherrymen as ‘Barbers Pole’ due to the chimney.
In 1882, the drainage pump was modernised with a new engine and chimney shaft provided by Holmes and Sons of Norwich. The pump originally had a scoopwheel but a turbine replaced this.
The site appears as Black Mill on early 1900s OS Maps:
The Explore & The Site Now
The site is in fairly poor condition and is difficult to access, it took almost an hour to get to the building from the closest parking opportunity, and we had to navigate several fields hoping there were footbridges when crossing the ditches. We eventually made it to the building and had to go over a very wobbly footbridge. It was very overgrown and due to the uneven surfaces it was a pain to use a tripod for photos, so I had to do handhelds for the most part.
We were hoping to find an old engine in the engine room, but this was removed a long time ago, adjacent to the engine room was a blocked room with some dilapidated metal remains in, perhaps this was the remains of the old boiler for the steam engine. The steam engine itself is thought to have been manufactured by Richard Garrett & Sons which was based in Suffolk.
There is a small gap in the wall next to the engine for an existing cogwheel above a Holmes & Son engineers iron pump cylinder, that is pretty much all that remains of Black Mill, with the chimney being the most in-tact part.
Onto the photos…
Approaching the site from a distance, you get a nice perspective of the chimney and engine house hidden beneath vegetation, with the modern pump in situ on the left:
Here's that wobbly footbridge I was talking about - not the safest with just one small support in the middle:
Here's a view from the river, the building itself is still barely visible even from here, but the beautiful octagonal chimney gives away its former use:
From the side, you're greeted with the only part of the structure that isn't covered by trees and vegetation:
A closer look at the cogwheel, in addition to a shot of it I got through the small gap in the wall near the old location of the engine:
This room is where the engine would have been situated, we were gutted to see it had been removed as the old engines are almost always the main highlight at these pumping stations:
The cast-iron piece was nice to see. This was manufactured by Holmes & Sons of Norwich. The company specialised in iron engineering and also manufactured agricultural machinery:
Finally, a couple of shots of the modern electric pumping station on site, before we balanced across the dodgy bridge and navigated the fields to get back to the car:
Thanks for looking!
