The Waterworks Museum was opened in 1974. The museum is one of Herefordshire’s leading visitor attractions. It is wholly run by volunteers. It is, ‘A working museum which makes the story of drinking water spring to life.’
Based in a Grade II* listed building, the Museum is home to the UK’s oldest in-situ working triple-expansion steam engine and it has one of the widest ranges of working pumping engines in the UK. This includes exhibits in The Tangye House, Leominster’s Victorian pumping station and the Rotherwas Engine House, displaying a permanent exhibition of artefacts saved from dereliction from a World War II bunker. The collection is interpreted by a combination of displays, historic artefacts and ephemera related to potable water.
Visitors to the Waterworks Museum can see historic beam, steam, gas, oil, diesel and combustion engines, many of which are among the last working example of their kind. The collection primarily relates to drinking water supply in Herefordshire, the Marches and Wales, but also includes items from other parts of the UK. In addition, building on its collection of hot-air engines, the Waterworks Museum has gained a reputation as a repository and centre of knowledge for the operation of machines that provided power for municipal schemes before internal combustion engines. This collection is considered one of the best in the UK. There is also a unique Heritage Water park for with full size working interactive artefacts.
Visit their website: www.waterworksmuseum.org.uk
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