Recreating the polychrome decoration on the interior of Abbey Mills Pumping Station by Saskia Huning

Day & time

Monday 18th May - 4pm

Cost

Donation

Venue

Virtually - via Zoom (a link will be sent to your email address on the day of the talk)

Abbey Mills Pumping Station in Newham is central to the London sewer system. Created in the mid 19th century and masterminded by the engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the architect of Abbey Mills Pumping Station was Charles F. Driver.

The pumping station has an ornate cast iron interior which in the 1860’s, when the pumping station opened, had been decorated in an extravagant polychrome scheme. In 2011 Thames Water commissioned research to investigate the colour scheme and in 2018 work started on recreating the decoration to reveal the full splendour of the Victorian colours.

Saskia Huning  will talk about this exciting project and introduce you to the fantastic interior of Abbey Mills Pumping station. She will describe working closely with Helen Hughes whose extensive architectural paint research established the colour scheme. Full size sample boards were prepared to help with the listed building consent and Saskia will show the progress of the project through to the completion of the colourwork on the central octagon.

Join Saskia for this fascinating online talk via Zoom. Please purchase a ticket by entering an amount in the donation box. A link to the event will be sent to you on the day of the talk.  Thank you!