Description

SANDWELL MB BIRMINGHAM CANAL
SO 98 NE
Titford Branch, Oldbury
8/31 Engine House adjoining
Top Lock of
Oldbury Locks, south of
Engine Street

GV II

Pumping engine house, now partly used as warehouse. Built shortly after
Oldbury Locks were opened in 1837. Blue brick with roofs of slate and
corrugated asbestos. South wall has twin gables of two parallel ranges,
the right hand one set forward slightly. Each has a first floor window
with segmental head and a ground floor doorway, the right hand one partly
blocked and with an elliptical head. The left hand return wall is partly
covered by a single storey lean-to. On the first floor are four windows
with segmental heads and iron glazing bars. The right hand return wall
is of four bays. The windows have segmental heads and all have iron glazing
bars except the left hand one on the first floor. At the right there is a
blocked window, with a doorway to a fire escape above on the first floor.
At the rear is a lower range with a truncated chimney projecting from its
west wall. The engine house originally contained two beam engines and four
boilers to recirculate water from the Wolverhampton level back to the Titford
Canal. They operated at 11 strokes a minute and lifted five million gallons
a day. The beam engines were replaced by a Tangye gas engine c1930. This
has been superseded by electric pumps which are still used occasionally.
The engine house stands at the junction with Spon Lane Branch, a part of
the Titford Feeder made navigable in the early 1870s. (Langford, J I,
The BCN and Titford Valley, Boundary Post, 1974).

Listing NGR: SO9948488699

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26576656

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
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  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
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  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)