Markfield Beam Engine and Museum

What it’s like

Free entry to a Victorian pumping station where the 1886 beam engine thunders into life on steaming days, plus toys, trails and a park playground.

The engine is the whole point. On steaming days it turns under its own power, and the site gives two windows for it: 12.30 to 1.15pm and 2.30 to 3.15pm. Aim to be standing in front of it for one of those, because watching a lump of 1886 iron work that hard is the bit your kids will talk about in the car home. Between runs there's an activity area packed with toys and tools, activity sheets for younger visitors, hands-on engineering bits and trails.

It suits a wide age range but it's really a one to ten sort of place: toddlers are happy with the toys and the sheets, and a seven-year-old who likes taking things apart will get the most out of the engineering activities. Entry is free, donations welcome, which takes the sting out of a short visit, and it's an indoor site so a wet Sunday works fine.

Do check the calendar before you set off. It usually opens the second and fourth Sunday of the month, 10am to 3.30pm, steaming days 10am to 4pm, and it steams most Bank Holiday Mondays. One date to cross off: the Saturday 31 October steaming day is cancelled. It's a short visit on a non-steaming day, maybe an hour or two, and the playground in the park is what stretches it out.

Markfield Cafe in the park does homemade, child-friendly food and it's run separately from the museum. There's one proper catch: the museum has no toilets, so you'll be using the park's public ones, and the accessible toilet key is held at the cafe. Parking on site is limited and the car park shuts at 6pm behind a 2.3m height barrier, so the 318 bus, five minutes' walk away on Grovelands Road, is often the easier call.

Facilities

Need to know

Best for

1 to 10; engine fans and toy-and-tools toddlers both happy

Booking

Tours most open days, book at the museum entrance

Parking

Limited parking on site in the park, open 9am–6pm, 2.3m height barrier

Food

Markfield Cafe in the park serves homemade, child-friendly food

Pushchairs

Step-free ground-floor access. Park paths are traffic-free

Wheelchairs

Step-free ground floor of the museum

Dogs

Welcome on a lead in the park

Getting there by bus or train

318 bus stops 5 minutes' walk away

Worth knowing

Free to visit — donations welcome

• Engine runs 12.30-1.15pm and 2.30-3.15pm on steaming days only
• Usually open the second and fourth Sunday of the month, not weekly
• The 31 October steaming day is cancelled
• Museum has no toilets: use the park's, accessible key at Markfield Cafe
• Car park shuts at 6pm with a 2.3m height barrier

Plan your visit

Featured in 1 Huddlepin list

See all Model Villages & Miniature Railways in Enfield · Things to do in Enfield