About the Trust

Why we exist

Crossness Pumping Station was built in 1865 as part of Bazalgette’s sewer network: the engineering that helped end London’s cholera crisis and the Great Stink.

By the 1950s the engines stood abandoned. Volunteers formed the Crossness Engines Trust to rescue the building, restore its iron and steam, and open it to the public again.

Today we still care for this Grade I palace of iron: open days, tours, learning and a living restoration. The full story is on our History Timeline. To join the work, see Volunteer.

Vision & purpose

From our Business Plan 2025–2027, approved by the Board of Trustees.

Our purpose

Crossness Engines Trust preserves, restores and shares Crossness Pumping Station, one of the world’s great monuments to Victorian engineering and architecture, in perpetuity for the benefit of the public. A Grade I-listed gem, this palace of iron and steam was built in 1865 to pump London’s sewage with mighty beam engines as part of Joseph Bazalgette’s new sewer network that helped end the city’s sanitation crisis. Celebrated for its magnificent design, Crossness hosted the system’s ceremonial opening, expressing a Victorian conviction that public health, civic ambition and beauty should stand together for the common good. Abandoned in the 1950s but restored to splendour under the stewardship of the Trust, Crossness operates as a museum, with a collection and archive that support research and learning, inspiring a deeper understanding of how infrastructure and craft underpin life today, while safeguarding a masterpiece of the age that shaped the modern world.

Our values

• Public benefit and universal appeal
• Authenticity and preservation
• Excellence in interpretation and experience
• Inclusivity and diversity
• Community engagement and collaboration
• Sustainability

How the Trust operates

The Crossness Engines Trust is a registered charity (no. 297585) and company limited by guarantee, governed by Articles of Association approved by the Charity Commission.

A Board of unpaid Trustees guides the work. Day-to-day conservation is largely done by volunteers: from engine restoration to front-of-house and gardens. The Trust has hundreds of paid-up members who support the museum year round.

Income is generated by

• Open days and guided tours
• Commercial filming and photography
• Grants and support (including National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England and our landlord Thames Water)
• Donations and membership

Some income from open days and tours may be used to release Landfill Communities Fund monies with a payment to a Landfill Operator.

Get involved

Support Crossness as a visitor, member, volunteer or donor. Membership and donations help the Trust care for the site.