Monument record MDO28223 - Poole Power Station

Poole Power Station was constructed in 1946 as an oil-fired power station on saltmarsh on the north side of the Hamworthy peninsula. The power station was extended in 1955 and between 1957 and 1960, it was convered to oil firing. It was decommissioned in 1998 and demolished.

Plans for a power station at Poole were made in the late 1930s and a number of test bore holes were sunk in 1939. World War II intervened and operations ceased until the end of the war, then another series of boreholes were sunk during the period 1945-1948.

Construction of the power station began in 1946 when 250,000 tons of chalk and 24,000 tons of ash were imported to raise the level of the site about 1.5 m to form a firm surface for construction. The foundations of the Generator Transformer Annexe, Turbine House and Boiler House comprised a mass concrete raft between 4.5 m and 9.1 m thick along the southern part of the site. The Precipitators and chimneys immediately north of the concrete raft, the switchgear and other buildings were carried on reinforced concrete piles about 14 m long. About 3000 piles were used. The Pump House in the southwest corner of the site had a reinforced concrete foundation down to about –8 m OD. The jetty along the east side of the site was constructed from concrete cells within sheet pile cofferdams excavated to about –10 m OD and approximately 20 m steel box piles driven vertically and raking, tied together with reinforced concrete beams. Extensive dredging operations were undertaken to provide a berth and turning circle for the colliers bringing coal to the site (JNB 1954).

When constructed, the power station was coal-fired using pulverised coal as fuel. In 1955, the power station was extended to increase its total output. A decision was made to convert to oil firing and the conversion undertaken between 1957-1960. Poole Power Station was decommissioned in 1998 and all the above ground structures were demolished by 2000.

Tatler, S and Bellamy, P S, 2007, Poole Power Station Site, Rigler Road, Hamworthy, Poole: Archaeological Observations and Recording, October 2007 (Unpublished document). SDO12489.

Record last edited

Jan 23 2019 11:10AM