| Summary : Wheel pit to Greenburn Mine. Field investigations by English Heritage in 2000 recorded the well-preserved remains of a stone-built wheel-pit, built to hold a large overshot wheel, probably 7.3 metres in diameter, powering an ore-crushing mill immediately to the south and a battery of 'stamps' immediately to the north. The wheel was supplied from the tail race of another overshot wheel (NY 20 SE 36). 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, now held in Cumbria Record Office. A timber shed, of which only the stone floor survives, was built to cover the crushing mill. On the north, the building housing the stamps survives only as dilapidated walls, but the stamps themselves are still in situ, heavily corroded but still intact. The wheel probably became redundant circa 1885. The components were probably eventually removed for re-use or sale. The tail-race from the wheel carried the outflow straight to another overshot wheel (NY 20 SE 38). |
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 7.3m or 24 feet in diameter) powering an ore-crushing mill immediately to the south and a battery of 'stamps' immediately to the north. The wheel was supplied from the tail race of another overshot wheel (NY 20 SE 36). 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, now held in Cumbria Record Office. A timber shed, of which only the stone floor survives, was built to cover the crushing mill. On the north, the building housing the stamps survives only as dilapidated walls, but the stamps themselves are still in situ, heavily corroded but still intact. The wheel etc probably became redundant c.1885. The components were probably eventually removed for re-use or sale. The tail-race from the wheel carried the outflow straight to another overshot wheel (NY 20 SE 38).
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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