Coultershaw beam pump
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1005817
- Date first listed:
- 13-Apr-1981
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1005817
- Date first listed:
- 13-Apr-1981
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- West Sussex
- District:
- Chichester (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Petworth
- National Park:
- South Downs
- National Grid Reference:
- SU 97208 19409
Summary
Coultershaw Beam Pump, 46m SSW of Coultershaw Farm House.
Reasons for Designation
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.
History
See Details.
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.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- WS 484
- Legacy System:
- RSM - OCN
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
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 09-Jun-2026 at 16:47:14.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.