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Coultershaw beam pump

A Scheduled Monument in Petworth, West Sussex

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.9659 / 50°57'57"N

Longitude: -0.617 / 0°37'1"W

OS Eastings: 497208.815822

OS Northings: 119409.92934

OS Grid: SU972194

Mapcode National: GBR FGS.6V6

Mapcode Global: FRA 96LK.9G7

Entry Name: Coultershaw beam pump

Scheduled Date: 13 April 1981

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1005817

English Heritage Legacy ID: WS 484

County: West Sussex

Civil Parish: Petworth

Traditional County: Sussex

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): West Sussex

Church of England Parish: Petworth St Mary

Church of England Diocese: Chichester

Summary

Coultershaw Beam Pump, 46m SSW of Coultershaw Farm House.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 30 October 2014. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records. .

The monument includes a water wheel-powered triple beam pump built in 1782 to supply water to Petworth House. It is situated on the east side of the Rother, just south of Coultershaw Bridge near Petworth.

The water-wheel, which is 3.4m in diameter, was renewed in the 19th century and is cast iron framed. It was originally undershot but is now breast shot and drives a three-throw crankshaft which swings three beams pivoted at one end through connecting rods. The pump plunger rods are connected to the outer free ends of the beams. Water is pumped at a rate of over 90,000 litres per day along a 2.4 km cast iron pipeline to an underground cistern on Lawn Hill in Petworth Park.

The pump was originally sited in the basement of Coultershaw Watermill. However after the mill was destroyed by fire in the 1920’s, a weather-boarded barn with a tiled roof and brick footings was brought in to replace it. The beam pump was restored during the 1980s.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Coultershaw Beam Pump, 46m SSW of Coultershaw Farm House, is a rare survival of a water-powered beam pump. It marked a significant 18th century innovation in the development of mechanised water supply. It is the only known survival of an almost exact copy of George Sorocold’s pumps erected under London Bridge in 1705. George Sorocold was an engineer from Lancashire who was hugely influential in pioneering work in water supply. He introduced pumps worked by water-wheels, which rose and fell in accordance with the level of the river or stream. As a surviving example of this design, albeit later in date, Coultershaw Beam Pump is of national importance.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Websites
Sorocold, George (c.1668–1738?) , accessed 29-JUL-2009 from http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/47971. [Accessed 29-JUL-2009
Other
West Sussex HER 1617 - MWS2720. NMR SU91NE29. PastScape 249351

Source: Historic England

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