| Summary : Wheel pit at Greenburn Mine. Field investigations by English Heritage in 2000 recorded the poorly-preserved remains of a stone-built open sided wheel-pit, built to hold a small overshot wheel, probably 2.4 metres in diameter, powering a set of 'buddles' for washing the crushed ore. The wheel was supplied from the tail race of another wheel (NY 20 SE 38). Its size and position can be gauged accurately from a pair of timbers which seem to have been part of the A-frame that supported the wheel. The structure was built at some point between 1848 and 1861, and is depicted on a schematic plan though to have been made before 1861, which is now held in Cumbria Record Office. A timber shed, whose plan and floor surface can still be identified, probably covered 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 into the Greenburn Beck. |
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 poorly-preserved remains of a stone-built open sided wheel-pit, built to hold a small overshot wheel (probably 2.4m or 8 feet in diameter) powering a set of 'buddles' for washing the crushed ore. The wheel was supplied from the tail race of another wheel (NY 20 SE 38). Its size and position can be gauged accurately from a pair of timbers which seem to have been part of the A-frame that supported the wheel. The structure was built at some point between 1848 and 1861, and is depicted on a schematic plan though to have been made before 1861, which is now held in Cumbria Record Office. A timber shed, whose plan and floor surface can still be identified, probably covered 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 into the Greenburn Beck.
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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