The Wapping Hydraulic Power Station (built 1890) was originally run by the London Hydraulic Power Company in Wapping, London, England. Originally it operated using steam and later it was converted to use electricity. It was used to power machinery, including lifts (elevators), across London. The Tower Subway was used to transfer the power, and steam, to districts south of the river.
After its closure as a pumping station in 1977, the building was converted and reopened as an arts centre (the Wapping Project) and restaurant (Wapping Food). Exhibitions are held in the basement and the main ground floor hall houses the restaurant. Some of the original equipment is still in place. The building was designated a grade II* listed building in December 1977.
On the opposite side of the road (Wapping Wall) is a notable London public house, The Prospect of Whitby, on the northern bank of the River Thames.
Famous quotes containing the words power and/or station:
“O power of fantasy that steals our minds from things outside, to leave us unaware, although a thousand trumpets may blow loud—what stirs you if the senses show you nothing? Light stirs you, formed in Heaven, by itself, or by His will Who sends it down to us.”
—Dante Alighieri (1265–1321)
“[T]here is no situation so deplorable ... as that of a gentlewoman in real poverty.... Birth, family, and education become misfortunes when we cannot attain some means of supporting ourselves in the station they throw us into. Our friends and former acquaintances look on it as a disgrace to own us.... If we were to attempt getting our living by any trade, people in that station would think we were endeavoring to take their bread out of their mouths.”
—Sarah Fielding (1710–1768)