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When Bristol Waterworks Company, as it was known, was formed 1846 it piped clean spring water from the Mendip Hills to supply the people of Bristol. As Bristol's population grew more water was needed and in 1888 the Company obtained Parliamentary approval to build a reservoir at Blagdon by constructing a dam across the River Yeo, which drained the Mendips.

Construction started in 1891 and took eight years to complete, all the work having to be down by an army of labourers with horse-drawn carts. Steam helped too with materials being brought to the site by means of a branch railway line by the Wrington Vale Light Railway Company.

The water was pumped to Bristol by four massive steam beam engines housed in the imposing Gothic style building. In 1949 two of the engines were replaced by electric pumps. The remaining engines were preserved and today form part of the very popular Blagdon pumping station and visitor centre which is open throughout the summer for visitors. For more details on opening times and events see the rest of this section