Abbey Pumping Station

Leicester's former sewage pumping station is now a museum of science, technology, and industrial history — and one of the more eccentric attractions in the city. The Victorian Gothic building houses four massive Gimson beam engines, each standing several storeys high, and on special "steaming weekends" they are fired up and run for the public.

The wider collection covers Leicester's industrial heritage and includes a narrow-gauge railway that operates on open days. Even on non-steaming days the building is worth visiting: the engines are impressive objects even standing still, and the displays on Victorian sanitation and public health are surprisingly engaging. Check the events calendar before visiting if you want to see the engines in action.

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The four beam engines at Abbey Pumping Station were installed in 1891 and are thought to be the largest surviving examples of their type still in working order. On steaming weekends, volunteers run all four engines simultaneously — the machinery fills the building with noise, heat, and the smell of hot oil, exactly as it would have done when the station was pumping Leicester's sewage in the Victorian era.

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