Heritage engineering at the Cambridge Museum of Technology

Part of the museums charm is its working space full of moving parts: from the huge Hathorn Davey steam engines capable of pumping 250,000 gallons of sewage per hour from under the city streets, to exhibits that explore the rise of the city’s once-thriving electronics and scientific instruments industry. Throughout the space, there are hands-on displays and working machinery, making it well-suited for students and engineers wanting to understand how things were built, maintained, and improved.

What’s inside

The main pumping station building houses the industrial steam engines, one of which has been restored to working order and runs during special open days, giving a real sense of the scale and sound of turn-of-the-century municipal engineering.

Alongside this are exhibits from several local employers, including the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company and Pye, which once produced everything from early radios to military electronics. Their work spans telecommunications, scientific measurement, and consumer technology – helpful context for those learning about engineering’s role across different sectors.

The museum also includes:

• The Print Shop, where a Linotype machine and treadle presses show how industrial printing worked – demonstrated monthly by volunteers
• The Pye Building, which looks at how Cambridge grew into a centre for electronics design, with displays on components, test equipment, and early televisions
• The Top Bay, where children and adults alike can activate working belt drives, pumps, and fans at the push of a button

Why people visit

The museum attracts engineers, heritage enthusiasts, school groups, and families – particularly on open steam days and when there are workshops running. In 2024, it welcomed record visitor numbers and hosted over 50 events.

Special days include:

• Discovery Days, where children can build simple motors, circuits, or try programming
• Classic Motorcycle Day, showcasing vintage two-wheeled designs and engine mechanics
• Drone workshops, linking past mechanical engineering to present-day automation and flight control

While many museums show finished products behind glass, this one takes pride in showing the moving parts. Volunteers keep the machines going, offering insights into engineering as a lived, hands-on practice – not just theory or design.

Engineering past and future

For engineers and educators, the museum bridges the gap between historical hardware and today’s digital landscape. It reminds us how every generation has built on the one before – by trial, error, and practical experimentation. That makes it a strong teaching site for schools looking to bring STEM to life through real-world context.

It also hints at where the industry might go next. With a renewed interest in sustainability, materials reuse, and repairability, the kinds of systems and skills on show here – large-scale mechanics, diagnostics, and physical control systems – are becoming relevant once again.