OLD MILLCLOSE ENGINE HOUSE


Description:  The ruined buildings, earthworks and buried remains of the Old Millclose engine house complex and Watts engine shaft. The engine house was built in 1859-60 by mine proprietor Edward Wass, to house a Cornish engine ordered from Thornewill and Warham of Burton-on-Trent. The engine pumped water from the from the Old Millclose lead mine, via the Watts engine shaft adjacent to the building. This was an old shaft, reopened in 1859. The engine was operated until the early 1870s, when it was moved to the new Millclose mine, some 450 metres to the east. It was this new venture which became renowned as the largest lead mine in Britain. The engine house survives as a ruin, with foundations and one standing wall, to the east, visible. This is the bob wall. Standing to a height of 9 metres, it is built of gritstone ashlar 1.5 metres thick, pierced by two main openings. Other walls survive only as foundations or bases. East of the engine house is the shaft itself, stone lined and now capped and grilled. The foundations of a chamber built against the south side of the engine house represent a boiler house, whose north west wall is built against the foot of the slope to the west. Three arches in this wall led to a chimney, the brick base of which survives a few metres above on the steep hillside. South of the boiler house, the foundations of an irregularly shaped chamber interpreted as a winding house are seen. These foundations are believed to extend beneath the modern track, and are included in the scheduling. Scheduled.

Country:  ENGLAND

County:  DERBYSHIRE

District:  DERBYSHIRE DALES

Parish:  SOUTH DARLEY

Grid Reference:   SK25786182

Map Reference:  [EPSG:27700] 425780, 361820

Period:  POST MEDIEVAL, 1859, 1859 - 1860

Subject:  BEAM ENGINE HOUSE, BOILER HOUSE, CHIMNEY, DEMOLISHED BUILDING, LEAD MINE, MINE PUMPING SHAFT, MINE PUMPING WORKS, MINE SHAFT, RUINED BUILDING, STEAM ENGINE HOUSE, STRUCTURE, SUBTERRANEAN FEATURE, WINDER HOUSE

Identifiers: 
[ADS] Depositor Id: SK 26 SE 27
[ADS] Import RCN: NMR_NATINV-311341

People Involved: 
[Publisher] Historic England