A pumping station from an innovative railway built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel has been listed Grade II after a campaign to save it from demolition championed by Jeremy Clarkson.
Dairy Crest to demolish Brunel pumping station
The "Top Gear" presenter, whose advocacy of the engineer won him a close second to Sir Winston Churchill in the BBC's Great Britons series, got involved after the company Dairy Crest proposed to level the building in Totnes, Devon, for a housing development.
A rare survival of a building designed by the great engineer, the pumping house was to have provided the power for Brunel's South Devon Atmospheric Railway. Trains drawn along by a piston in a tube laid between the rails.
The listing means that Dairy Crest will have to apply to the local authority for permission to demolish, if that remains their intention.
The listing means that Dairy Crest will have to apply to the local authority for permission to demolish, if that remains their intention.
Conservationists applauded Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, for deciding to list the building against the advice of English Heritage.
Adam Wilkinson, secretary of SAVE Britain's heritage, said: "The Secretary of State has clearly seen sense and listed a rare survival from one of the more exotic chapters of our industrial, architectural and transport history.
"Dairy Crest must now see the value of this building and work with the people of Totnes to come up with a scheme which makes use of Brunel's pumping station."
"Dairy Crest must now see the value of this building and work with the people of Totnes to come up with a scheme which makes use of Brunel's pumping station."
Full article here Telegraph Article
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