Southwark
In 1974, when walking through Southwark, Dr Dennis Smith discovered, by accident, this fully equipped but abandoned 'Kirkaldy Testing and Engineering Works'. We have included this small museum because of the way it was found, and the dedication needed to get it preserved..
Although covered in dust the tools and machinery of the testing station were more or less in working order. Dr Smith, a civil engineer, quickly realised that the building and equipment were an important part of industrial history. He eventually, after much effort, acquired the building as the headquarters of the Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society, which now meets here twice a month.
Visitors to the museum are shown a short film and then taken on a guided tour of the building.
At the centre of the building is a massive 19th century hydraulic testing machine designed to measure the strength of industrial and building materials.
The building was the premises of a family business started in 1866 by the machine's designer, a Scotsman called David Kirkaldy.
Kirkaldy's 74 ft multi-purpose hydraulic testing machine weighs 120 tons and exerts a pressure of 1 million lbs, one of only two such machines ever made, and was used to test for compression, bending, punching, tension, shear, bulging and torsion on all types of material from steel to concrete. It was used to test materials to be used on projects such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Comet jet aircraft.
By appointment so telephone (evenings only) for details and appointments
