Leawood Pumphouse

After much to-ing and fro-ing, the Leawood Pumphouse became operational in late 1849, pumping water from the River Derwent to the Cromford Canal for the first time since its conception in 1844.

The reason for its large size is down to an Act of Parliament which laid down strict conditions and restrictions on how much water could be extracted from the River Derwent, due to the successful cotton industry at this time. So the engine was designed to extract as much water as possible in the allotted 24-hour period each week, and is capable of pumping almost four tons of water per stroke at seven strokes per minute - a total of over 39,000 tons of water per 24 hours.

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