AN iconic, red-bricked pump house in Taunton which dates from the Victorian era risks being left behind from a nearby regeneration project.

The derelict Grade II Listed Firepool Pumping Station was constructed atop of two limekilns in 1866 and remodelled in 1889. It sits adjacent to the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, where it once pumped water to Taunton Station for steam locomotives.

The historic building falls outside of the approved Firepool Regeneration site, where a £13 million project is underway to bring a boulevard, cinema, office space and dwellings to the former cattle market.

It means the building, which is privately owned by the Abbey Manor Group based in Yeovil, has not been included in any regeneration proposals and continues to stand derelict.

All the windows have been boarded up and brambles have grown considerably across the site, with temporary metal fencing around the perimeter of the site to deter people from breaking in.

However, Somerset Council has previously stated that the building could be a "quick-win", with conversion for commercial use. 

The site is surrounded by new developments, including a retirement home under construction in the north.  

Map outlining the perimeter of the Firepool regeneration site, with number 1 in the right-hand corner signifying the Firepool Pumping Station. Map outlining the perimeter of the Firepool regeneration site, with number 1 in the right-hand corner signifying the Firepool Pumping Station. (Image: Firepool master plan) The last planning application submitted for the Firepool Pumping Station dates from 2018, when the owners proposed converting the building into a waterside restaurant. The application did not proceed, and no works have been undertaken at the site.

In 2017, Nigel Timmis, managing director of Abbey Manor Group, told the Somerset County Gazette that, until the cattle market regeneration took place, the Group “couldn't commercially undertake” a redevelopment of the building.

A similar proposal for a restaurant has since been approved the former Great Western Railway Goods House as part of the regeneration works. The building, which dates from the 1930s, is set to be converted into a restaurant as part of works in the northern part of Firepool regeneration site.

As for the Firepool Pumping Station, no applications have arisen since 2018, and the future of the building is unknown.

A spokesperson for Somerset Council said that the owners “have the responsibility to maintain the building in good order.”

Abbey Manor Group was approached for comment, but did not respond.