London Hydraulic Power Company
The London Hydraulic Power Company was established in 1883 to install a hydraulic power network in London. This expanded to cover most of central London at its peak, before being replaced by electricity, with the final pump house closing in 1977.
Wapping Hydraulic Power Station
A hydraulic power network is a system of interconnected pipes carrying pressurized liquid used to transmit mechanical power from a power source, like a pump, to hydraulic equipment like lifts or motors. The system is analogous to an electrical grid transmitting power from a generating station to end-users. Only a few hydraulic power transmission networks are still in use; modern hydraulic equipment has a pump built into the machine. In the late 19th century, a hydraulic network might have been used in a factory, with a central steam engine or water turbine driving a pump and a system of high-pressure pipes transmitting power to various machines.
The pumping station and hydraulic accumulator at Bristol Docks
Machell Street hydraulic pumping station in Hull, showing the water settling tank on the roof
The preserved pumping equipment in Wapping pumping station, which was owned by the London Hydraulic Power Company
The external hydraulic accumulator at Bristol Harbour