Amport House Pump | Twyford Waterworks | 06/10/24

An Amport House Pump (which only runs when a a One Pound coin is inserted in the slot) is in operation during the Autumn Rally at Twyford Waterworks. The Amport House pump came to the Twyford Waterworks Trust in the 1980s from Amport House, near Andover. It is a 3-cylinder ram pump, which is at present driven by an electric motor. The base on which the motor sits is the base of a vertical steam engine, so probably the motor is a conversion. The house in which it sits has been built by the Trust. Amport House was built in 1857 for the Marquis of Winchester. The estate was used as the headquarters of the Royal Air Force Maintenance Command in World War II. This pump was probably installed secondhand to serve the much larger population living on the estate during the war. The estate is now part of the Defence Academy, housing the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre.