In the 19th century, the population of Leicester soared from 17,000 in 1801 to 120,000 in 1881, leaving and causing unacceptable levels of sewage to enter the River Soar (this being the main River that serves the City of Leicester) To solve the problem, Leicester Corporation began a new sewerage scheme in 1887, which involved laying 11 miles of sewers, a new treatment works at Beaumont Leys, and the Abbey Pumping Station. Abbey pumped all of Leicester’s sewage from 1891 until 1964 when a new treatment works was built at Wanlip, 5km away. The sewage flowed to Wanlip by force of gravity alone, making Abbey redundant. Four years after Abbey’s closure, the site became the Leicester Museum of Technology and was officially opened in 1973. Abbey Pumping Station was designed by architect Stockdale Harrison to look like an Elizabethan country house, it is an attractive building considering the job it did. The engines are the largest surviving and working Woolf compound rotative beam engines in the country. They were made to a design patented in 1803 by Cornish engineer Arthur Woolf and are rated at 200hp, at 12-19rpm, and pumped 208,000 gallons of sewage an hour. The engines have two cylinders to power them: the first uses steam at high pressure, while the second uses it at low pressure. The engines drive the pumps and flywheel via a beam. The grand Victorian building and beautifully decorated beam engines were a cause of great civic pride. The engines were built by Gimson of Leicester. Whilst Robert Richardson was undertaking some work for Gimson and Company at the Abbey Pumping Station, he was marking some ironwork with red lead, he in turn missed his footing on scaffolding in the roof and fell some 45 feet (14 Metres) sustaining internal injuries. At the time of the accident, 2 hours overtime was being worked each day in order for the building and engines to be completed on time. A doctor was called and Robert was rushed to the Leicester Royal Infirmary where he died from his injuries two days later with his wife at his bedside. Medicine in those days was very much in its infancy and sadly, the injuries that Robert Richardson sustained could with today’s improved medical standards and hygiene been treated and his life could have been saved. As it was Robert had already been widowed and had remarried in 1883, 7 years earlier. He now left his wife, Augusta and a young child to fend for themselves in a time when financial help, as we know it today, was totally unknown. The inquest into Robert’s death was report by the Leicester Mercury on Saturday 30th August 1890. Robert was buried at Welford Road Cemetery on Monday 1st September 1890 on a day when it was reported there was terrific thunderstorms over Leicester, most probably causing local flooding. His workmates were not allowed time off to attend his funeral, so out of respect they inscribed the simple memorial in the brickwork at the spot where he fell as a lasting memorial. Ghostly Goings On: Ok, so what is the paranormal twist to the story I hear you ask ? Several volunteers have said that when they are alone in the basement of the engine house at Abbey Pumping Station they get the sense that they are not really alone. There is a feeling, a warm sensation that someone or something is there with you. Is this the ghost of Robert Richardson watching over the current keepers of his beloved Beam Engines? Remember of course Robert Richardson’s fatality was the only one that ever occurred at Abbey Pumping Station. There is a cross in the basement indicating where Robert’s body landed when he fell from the scaffolding. So if you ever visit the museum, and get to stand by Robert Richardson’s cross in the basement, don’t forget to say hello to him!