WHO remembers the old power station? The west bank of the Severn in Worcester has seen enormous change over the past 100 years but perhaps most memorable and certainly most imposing of all those buildings that have come and gone was the Worcester Generating Station, a huge edifice, that loomed over the streets on the west side of the city for nearly 40 years.
Worcester can lay claim to the world’s first municipal hydro-electricity and steam plant at Powick constructed in 1894, but the Corporation of Worcester soon followed this with another steam-driven plant on Hylton Road in 1902.
Siting the plant on the river bank ensured ample supply of water to drive the steam-powered turbines (via specially-cut water channels passing under the road), as well as being a very convenient transportation route for coal.
Construction work under way on the new generating plant in 1943
The Hylton Road plant with its striking red-brick chimney, dominated the skyline of the western river bank until the 1940s when local engineering firm Heenan and Froude Ltd were commissioned to design a new steel-framed plant.
While the main plant was demolished by 1979, there are various reminders of the city’s power production to be found, not least of which are the many electricity sub stations built across the city, and often in themselves, quite decorative and well designed, incorporating iron work by Hardy and Padmore and sometimes, in the case of one on Rainbow Hill, commemorative sculpture!
The bronze plaque, unveiled at the opening of the new Worcester Generating Station on September 14 1944
A distinctive landmark of the riverside next to the site of the power station is the 1928 screen house. This single-storey building housed the mechanism and shaft for the water intake that powered the steam engines within the main plant.
Over the road in Tybridge Street, a length of the original boundary wall to the plant still stands, providing a boundary now for the Cripplegate Park extension.
Local people may also recall the Working Men’s Club that was built for staff of the electricity plant and still survives today as Hickory’s Restaurant.
Today’s piece is taken from an article written for the Explore the Past blog; for the full article go to – explorethepast.co.uk/2019/03/when-worcester-supplied-its-own-power/
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Worcester Life Stories is a collaborative project bringing local people together through shared stories of the City of Worcester. It is co-led by Dr Natasha Lord, Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust and Sheena Payne-Lunn, Worcester City Council and funded thanks to National Lottery players. For further information or to share your stories, visit worcesterlifestories.org.uk, our Facebook page or Twitter @worlifestories.
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