Burning coal

This was one of London’s first steam-powered sites. It was fuelled by coal and was part of a citywide
water supply network.

The burning coal created steam that drove engines in the tall building above you. Keeping the fire going was hard and skilled work.

In the 1800s, the engines here ran day and night. Smoke spilled from a giant chimney. Coal-fired sites across London created a thick fog and the city was nicknamed the ‘Big Smoke’