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Summary

Site of an engine house to the south-west of Turf Lock which was built in the 19th century for Brunel's atmospheric railway. It stood adjacent to a large square pond which is still extant.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX98NE/129

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENGINE HOUSE (Built, XIX - 1845 AD (Between) to 1846 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

Square pond depicted, marked as Enginehouse Pond.

Horner, B., 1994, Engine house at Turf Station (Personal Comment). SDV299059.

Possible site of an engine house on Brunel's atmospheric railway. An engine house is recorded as being built at Turf Station by 11th April 1846. It was possibly sited beside the square pool at the above NGR. The pond may have supplied water for the boilers. Alternatively Turf Station could be Exminster Station, which also has an adjacent pond.

Collings, A. G., 1995, Archaeological Assessment of RSPB Reserves at Exminster Marshes and Bowling Green March, Topsham, 4 (Report - Assessment). SDV298230.

Most of the building was demolished in the 1860s. A watercolour shows it to have been three-storeyed. Some of the stone was re-used in Exwell Barton farmhouse. The site was surveyed in 1913. There is a plan in the Holman collection in the West Country Studies Library. Engine House Pond is marked on the first edition Ordnance Survey map.

Garnsworthy, P., 2013, Brunel's Atmostpheric Railway, 26, 38-39 (Monograph). SDV360708.

Turf Engine House was built 1845-6. Contemporary watercolours by William Dawson show the engine house and chimney, situated in a compound between the square pond and the railway. An adjacent coal siding is also shown. A feature is also shown on the other side of the railway, which is suggested to have been for water collection on that side which was then pumped into the pond.
The site of the engine house was excavated by the Broad Gauge Society between 1995 and 1999. The foundations of several buildings were uncovered adjacent to the pond, including the engine room, boiler room, chimney and ancillary rooms. The walls were of grey limestone with red conglomerate quoins. The roofs were clad with Italian tiling. It was noted that some of the outbuildings at Exewell Barton were possibly constructed of reused materials from the engine house.

Ordnance Survey, 2024, Mastermap 2024 (Cartographic). SDV365834.

The square pond is still extant.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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