Retort House and King George Pumping Station
RETORT HOUSE AND KING GEORGE PUMPING STATION, SWAN AND PIKE LANE
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1079455
- Date first listed:
- 25-Sept-1989
- List Entry Name:
- Retort House and King George Pumping Station
- Statutory Address:
- RETORT HOUSE AND KING GEORGE PUMPING STATION, SWAN AND PIKE LANE
Have you got a photo to share?
Join the Missing Pieces Project. We want you to share your photos and memories.
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2005-10-10
- Reference:
- IOE01/14877/30
- Rights:
- © Mr Peter L. Herring. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreAlso of interest
Official list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1079455
- Date first listed:
- 25-Sept-1989
- List Entry Name:
- Retort House and King George Pumping Station
- Statutory Address 1:
- RETORT HOUSE AND KING GEORGE PUMPING STATION, SWAN AND PIKE LANE
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- RETORT HOUSE AND KING GEORGE PUMPING STATION, SWAN AND PIKE LANE
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- Enfield (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 37301 97931
Details
The following buildings shall be added:
SWAN AND PIKE LANE TQ 39 NE (east side) 21/286 Retort House and King George Pumping Station
II GV
Retort House. Opened 1913. Designed by William Booth Bryan for Metropolitan Water Board. English bond red brick with limestone ashlar dressings, set on plinth of blue brick; gabled corrugated asbestos roof. 4 x 2 bays. 4-bay side elevation. Raised stone impost bank links 3 semi-circular arched niches set between tall semi-circular arched architraves with keystones, to double doors in outer bays and two central windows with glazing bars and some later brick infill. Moulded stone cornice is continued as band across corner turrets and as string course across gable ends. Each gable end has 3 graduated semi-circular arched windows with galzing bars, above stone impost band linking central semi-circular arched niche flanked by semi-circular arched windows with glazing bars. Interior: cast-iron roof trusses. The retort house stored gas, which was made from anthracite in Dowson producers, before it was passed through a scrubber into the gas bags of the Pump House (q.v.). Included for group value. (The Engineer, March 14, 1913, pp.269-275).
Listing NGR: TQ3730197931
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 200825
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
The Engineer in March 14, (1913), 269-275
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 19-Jun-2026 at 13:11:20.
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.