Summary : Wheel pit to Greenburn Mine. Field investigations by English Heritage in 2000 found the well-preserved remains of a stone-built wheel-pit , built to hold a large overshot wheel, probably measuring 9.8 metres, powering the winding and pumping gear in Engine Shaft (NY 20 SE 13). The wheel was supplied from a pen-pond via a wooden launder (NY 20 SE 30 and 31). The structure was built at some point between 1848 and 1861, and is depicted on a schematic plan thought to have been made before 1861, which is now held in Cumbria Record Office. It may incorporate an earlier wheel-pit on the north which was apparently converted to hold a drive wheel. An open-ended roofed shed was built to cover this part of the machinery. The wheel probably became redundant circa 1885, when work in Engine Shaft ceased, and the components were probably removed for re-use or sale. The tail-race from the wheel carried the outflow straight to another overshot wheel (NY 20 SE 37). |
More information : Between mid September and late November 2000, English Heritage carried out an analytical field investigation of the surface remains of Greenburn Mine; the survey was requested and partly funded by the landowners, the National Trust (Event record 1335820) (1). The best-preserved building, which comprises an accommodation block, office and workshop (NY 20 SE 9) serves as a parent record for the other components of the complex.
The well-preserved remains of a stone-built wheel-pit , built to hold a large overshot wheel (probably 9.8m or 32 feet) powering the winding and pumping gear in Engine Shaft (NY 20 SE 13). The wheel was supplied from a pen-pond via a wooden launder (NY 20 SE 30 and 31). The structure was built at some point between 1848 and 1861, and is depicted on a schematic plan thought to have been made before 1861, which is now held in Cumbria Record Office. It may incorporate an earlier wheel-pit on the north which was apparently converted to hold a drive wheel. An open-ended roofed shed was built to cover this part of the machinery. The wheel etc probably became redundant c.1885, when work in Engine Shaft ceased, and the components were probably removed for re-use or sale. The tail-race from the wheel carried the outflow straight to another overshot wheel (NY 20 SE 37).
For further information, see the report at Level 3 standard available through the NMR archive, which includes reproductions of 19th-century documents, extracts from the survey at 1:500 scale, photographs and interpretative drawings. (1)
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