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General Information
Located in Brentford, West London and close to the River Thames, Kew Bridge Steam Museum was originally a Victorian Water Pumping Station. As a museum it has retained the original steam-powered pumping engines, which are the largest collection of their type, including the world's largest working single-cylinder beam engine.
 
The Kew Bridge Pumping Station first began working in 1838, taking its water from the Thames, and was originally operated by the Grand Junction Waterworks Company. Subsequently, it came under the control of the Metropolitan Water Board in 1904, which finally stopped operating the steam engines in 1944. The pumping station was reopened as Kew Bridge Steam Museum in 1975.
 
The museum collection was expanded by the donation of other steam engines, which have been restored to working order, and by the addition of the Water For Life Gallery, a permanent display recounting the 2,000-year history of water supply in London.
 
The museum is open to the public from 11am to 4pm, Tuesday to Sunday. However the museum accepts school visits from 9.45 am on Monday to Friday. The engines are normally in action for the public on weekends and Bank Holiday Mondays only; however, special operation of the engines can be arranged for your visit, for which an additional charge is made to cover the extra costs.

Available Facilities
Free on-site coach parking can be arranged but must be pre-booked.
A packed-lunch area can also be arranged, again pre-booking is necessary.
The museum has a comprehensive bookshop focusing on subjects related to the museum's collection, including brief guides from 20p and the museum guidebook to give some more background to the museum site. The bookshop also covers aspects of Victorian life, the history surrounding the Beam engines. For the children we have a range of postcards about the museum as well as other souvenirs.

Disabled Access
The museum believes in access for all, therefore there is currently ramped or level access to 80% of the museum plus a wheelchair accessible toilet. We also now have two wheelchairs available for use by the public. For visually impaired visitors / students touch tours can be arranged if pre-booked.

For more information and a booking form, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

 
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