AN historic pump house and water wheel at Stourhead has been restored back to its former glory as part of a £640,000 project to save and protect the structures in the grounds at Stourhead.

The repairs to the Lower Pump House by the National Trust involved £60,000 of work and included the roof being taken off and replaced, years of limescale being chipped off and the water wheel itself restored.

Stourhead’s head gardener Alan Power said: “It will be good to see the wheel turning and one of the more functional parts of the estate back in good condition once more.

“It doesn’t pump water any more but it still represents part of the history of how the garden was operated 100 years ago. The garden is hugely popular today – which is a credit for the foresight of Henry Hoare – but it also takes a lot of money and effort to keep it looking at its best which is why we are running a campaign to raise the money needed to bring all these features back into good condition.”

The pump-house was built in 1897 on to the back of an earlier drinking water trough and was an important part of the water supply to the village of Stourton and Stourhead House itself. Water from the lake powered a water wheel which then pumped fresh spring water for the local houses. Following a fire at the mansion house in 1902, the water wheel was replaced with a more powerful one in 1907 which was able to deliver 10,000 gallons of water a day and pumped water to a reservoir built near King

Alfred’s Tower.

Another water wheel was added below the pump-house in later years and the whole system continued to work until the 1960s when mains water arrived to replaced it.

The repairs were funded by a £260,200 grant from the SITA Trust, which also paid for the costs of recent work to repair the Pantheon.

The fundraising effort to restore the features around Stourhead is being run by the staff and volunteers who, in addition to the grant from the SITA Trust, are running a number of smaller fundraising campaigns.

Leanne Clements, from Stourhead, said: “We are asking local communities who love Stourhead to show their support for the campaign by getting involved wherever they can either by giving or by coming along to some of the events we are running.” For more details visit nationaltrust.org.uk/stourhead/donate-now.