In 1902 Gosport was brought up-to-date with the latest technology for disposing of its effluent. A Compressed Air Pumping Station was built at the Council’s Westfield Road Depot and a system of pipes carried compressed air throughout the borough. It was used to control ejector pumps that raised the level of effluent in pipes running along the main roads of the town. A total of 26 miles of sewer were laid with an outfall at Stokes Bay with the lowest tender for the work being £77,260.
The building that housed the compressed air pumps is still there at the Westfield Road depot but changed and extended.
Sadly the pumps have not survived but here they are in working condition.
The pumping Station can be seen in the background of this old photo of the Westfield Road Depot
To dispose of effluent and rain water efficiently pipes need to run downhill. The run of a pipe is limited and when it reaches a certain depth the effluent needs to be raised to a higher level to enter the next pipe run. In order to achieve this ejectors were fitted at key points in the system, actuated by the compressed air.
According to the Gosport Borough Council Minutes in 1904 there was 10 miles of Air Main with 50 stop valves.
There were originally 17 ejectors.
Number 18 at Priddy’s Hard was completed some time after the rest because the contractor was forbidden to use mechanical excavators or pumps.
Ejector chambers were fitted at:
1 Hardway Priory Road
2 Elson & Fort Brockhurst Elson Cross
3 Fort Elson
4 Brockhurst & Fort Rowner Cambridge Road
5 Grove Road Stony Butts
6 Mill Lane
7 The Green Quay Lane
8 St Matthew’s Square adjoining Church
9 Trafalgar Square adjoining Waterworks
10 Alver Road vent “near Gasworks”
11 Newtown
12 Bury Cross near Wiltshire Lamb
13 Clayhall Road ?+Hospital/Gunboat Yard?
14 Fort Monckton
15 Alverstoke Paget Road
16 Fort Gomer
17 Fort Grange
18 Priddy’s Hard.
Vestiges of the compressed air system can be found at various locations across Gosport.
Plates identified and marked the various stop valves.
The stop valve covers have survived in various places.
The modern pumps that replaced the ejectors are beneath the road close to where the big green cabinets containing the power and controls can be seen at Cambridge Road, Bury Cross and at other key points.
Gosport has some remaining cast iron Stench (Stink) Pipes that vent the sewers of noxious gasses, including methane, hydrogen sulphide and ammonia; all flammable, all smelly. Pipes can be seen at Bury Cross and Elson Road near to the pump controls. For details on these pipes visit:
Do You Know What A Stinkpipe Is?
I have located the following remaining stop valve plates and covers:
| Location | Plate | Nos | Valves |
| Anns Hill/Wilmott | 1 | 10 to 17 | 1 |
| Bury Road | 1 | 10, 11 | 1 |
| Brockhurst Road/Cambridge | 1 | 1,2,3,18 | 1 |
| Elson Church/Elson Road | 2 | ||
| Clayhall Road | 1 | ||
| Middlecroft Lane/Anns Hill | 1 | 1,2,3,12 | |
| Village Road/Paget Road | 1 | ||
| St Thomas’s Road | 1 |
There may be more out there waiting to be discovered!
I have not identified which type of ejector pump was installed. They may have been the same type that was fitted to London’s sewerage system, built by Isacc Shone.
Isaac Shone’s Pneumatic Sewerage System, circa 1884. This system was successfully used in London. It is a “separate” system, with sewage and rainwater disposed of by separated systems. Gravity delivers sewage to district collectors, then pneumatic ejectors raise sewage and deliver it to disposal points.
I am always pleased to hear of more the remains of this sewerage system if you spot them.
Thanks to Terry Rendall for checking the veracity of this page.
Original page created by David Moore.