Wylam Pumping Station

The pumping station on the banks of the Tyne at Wylam, Northumberland.

Built by the Newcastle and Gateshead Water Company in 1876 to house a steam-powered Cornish beam engine which was used to pump water from the River Tyne uphill north to the Whittle Dean Reservoirs.
Further steam engine pumps were provided in 1886 and 1894 and operated until 1918 when electrically driven centrifugal pumps were installed. These were uprated in 1950 and used until 1976 when they were replaced by works constructed at Ovingham, 0.5 miles upriver.
New pumps have now been installed within the old buildings which pump drinking water from the Horsley Treatment Works to the area south of the river.