Anson Engine Museum

Anson Engine Museum in Poynton, Cheshire, is a museum of stationary engines built on the grounds of a former colliery. It is a small, volunteer-run place that appeals to anyone curious about how machines powered homes, farms and workshops before electricity became universal.

What is the Anson Engine Museum?

The museum stands on the site of the old Anson colliery. It grew out of a hobby: Les Cawley and Geoff Challinor began collecting stationary engines and showing them to the public. What started as a private passion developed into a charitable trust, building work began in 1986, and the museum first opened its doors in 1989. After Les Cawley died in 2002, Geoff Challinor continued to develop the site into a larger visitor attraction.

Today the museum is regarded as holding one of the largest collections of engines in Europe, which is a remarkable claim for a place of this size.

What can you see inside?

The core of the display is a collection of roughly 250 gas and oil engines, many of them kept in working order, along with a pair of steam engines. Makers represented include names well known in British engineering history, such as Atkinson, Furnival, Gardner, Mirrlees, Robey and Ruston & Hornsby.

Beyond the engines, the site includes:

• a working blacksmith's smithy, where traditional metalwork is part of the experience,
• a carpentry shop,
• a scale model of Poynton and its local coal mines as they looked around 1900,
• a café for a break during the visit.

The model helps put the engines in context. Poynton was a mining village, and the colliery that once stood here shaped the town's history.

Why visit?

Engines at the museum are run on days when it is open, so you hear and see the machines working rather than only looking at them behind glass. Volunteers are usually on hand to explain how the different designs worked. It suits families, hobbyists and anyone interested in industrial heritage, and it makes an easy stop if you are exploring east Cheshire and the edge of the Peak District.

How long does a visit take?

The museum is compact, so most people need an hour or two, longer if you like to talk with the volunteers or watch several engines start up.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the Anson Engine Museum?

In Poynton, Cheshire, England, on the site of the former Anson colliery.

Are the engines really working?

Many of the gas and oil engines are in working order and are run on open days.

Is there anywhere to eat?

Yes, the site has a café.

When is it open?

Opening is limited and based on volunteers, and published listings differ on the days. Check the museum's own website or contact it before travelling, especially outside the summer season.