Upware lock and fen pumping engine, c.1925 (Cambs Collection, L Cobbett) (Cambridgeshire Collection)

Upware lock and fen pumping station, Ivy Cottage

History of lock and fen pumping station

From 1820s steam power took over the draining of the fens. Tall-chimneyed coal-fired pumping stations proliferated on the major channels. Swaffham engine at Upware , at the head of the Swaffham Fen Drain, pumped the water up to the Cam level. A new engine was installed in 1850, to replace the original 1821 engine. It was demolished in 1939. (Vanishing Cambridgeshire, p.180)

The Stevens family (Fen and Marshland Villages, Anthony Day, 1993) were key figures in the age of steam pumps in the fens. Arthur, son of William Steven, is shown here with his wife Louisa, who lived at Ivy Cottage near the engine. Louisa was nurse and midwife to the locals. Arthur retired from his role as steam pump engineer once a diesel engine had been installed.

1891

River Bank:

Arthur Stevens, 31, stoker stationary engine

Louisa, 29,

James, 4,

Rosa, 1,

Engine House:

William Stevens, 57, b Downham

Eliza, 61, b Lincs

In 1881 the Stevens family were at Pymore, Downham

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1901 River Bank, Swaffham Prior

Arthur W Stevens, 41, stationary engine stoker, b Lynn

Louisa, 39, b Cheveley

James, 14, ordinary ?? labourer, b Wicken

Rosa, 11, b Swaffham Prior

Bella, 8, b Wicken

Hilda, 6, b Swaffham Prior

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1911 Ivy Cottage, Swaffham Prior fen

Arthur Stevens, 51, stationary drainage engine driver, b Lynn

Louisa, 49, b Cheveley

James, 24, stationery drainage engine stoker, b Wicken

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1921 River Bank, Prior Fen, Upware

Arthur Stevens, 61, b Kings Lynn, drainage engine driver

Louisa, 59, b Cheveley

Rosa, 30, b Swaffham Fen