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Revisiting the iconic: the excavation of the reelfitz pit engine and the newcomen steam engine in Cumberland, UK

Nevell, MD; George, D

Revisiting the iconic: the excavation of the reelfitz pit engine and the newcomen steam engine in Cumberland, UK Thumbnail


Authors

MD Nevell

D George



Abstract

Examples of excavated 18th century stationary steam engine sites are very rare in Britain. This article records the rescue excavations ahead of road-building works of one such site in 1974-5 at Reelfitz Pit in Little Clifton, Cumberland. The Reelfitz Pit pumping engine was built around 1780 and abandoned in 1781. The remains uncovered show that the site had two external boilers and a narrow engine house with a cylinder on the ground floor. The excavation uncovered three engine parts from within the engine house: the piston flange from the cylinder, the connecting link from the piston rod to the beam and one of the chain links which fitted into the piston head. The current work discusses the site in terms of the development of the West Cumberland coal field and in the context of the surviving 18th century Newcomen engines.

Citation

Nevell, M., & George, D. (2014). Revisiting the iconic: the excavation of the reelfitz pit engine and the newcomen steam engine in Cumberland, UK. Industrial Archaeology Review, 36(2), 128-140. https://doi.org/10.1179/0309072814Z.00000000035

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Nov 1, 2014
Deposit Date Feb 2, 2015
Publicly Available Date Dec 1, 2016
Journal Industrial Archaeology Review
Print ISSN 0309-0728
Publisher Routledge
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 36
Issue 2
Pages 128-140
DOI https://doi.org/10.1179/0309072814Z.00000000035
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/0309072814Z.00000000035
Related Public URLs http://maney.co.uk/index.php/journals/iar/
Additional Information Funders : Manchester Region Industrial archaoelogy Society

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Reel_Fitz_Pit_Engine_excs_DG_V5g.pdf (365 Kb)
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Revisiting the Iconic: the Excavation of the Reelfitz Pit Engine and the Newcomen Steam Engine in Cumberland, UK






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