Abbey Mills Pumping station & Northern Outfall Sewer

"The Cathedral of Sewage"

Abbey Mills takes its name from watermills belonging to Stratford Langthorne Abbey, a Cistercian monastery founded in 1134 by William de Montfichet.

Abbey Mills pumping station is a much-admired masterpiece of Victorian public works engineering, built in 1865–8 and nicknamed ‘the cathedral of sewage’. Designed by Joseph Bazalgette, the station’s pumps drew waste water from the drains of north London and sent it down to the filter-beds at Beckton. Landscaping work has recently enhanced the view from the nearby Greenway footpath.