This was pulled out of the mud some years ago by a chap we met and his son. It had been stuck in the ground for as long as he had lived there, 70 years.

It was by the track of a private mineral railway (coal), in an area that has had mining since the year dot really.

It's now a very effective patio heater, so the chimney, door and fittings are not original. The metal is at least 3/8 inch thick and the whole construction very solid.

🔗Personal-Album-2571-Image-55286[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2571-Image-55286[/linkphoto][/link]

🔗Personal-Album-2571-Image-55285[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2571-Image-55285[/linkphoto][/link]

To my untutored eye it looks like a pressure vessel of some age. 1830s or 40s? There were plenty of pumping engines around here at the time.

What's odd is the bottom of it. No sign at all of how it would have been fixed to anything. Ideas welcome.

Also, what's the purpose of the slightly curved shape?

Thanks in advance.

Who cares, what a patio heater!" eh?
want one. 😮

Need to to get me some potatoes and some tin foil, nom nom nom. :lol:

On a more serious note, just what has been altered because it's got one or two similarities to a charcoal oven.

First glance,it looks like an Air Receiver,but not tall enough,for ones i`ve seen,and cannot see any pipe fitting holes,esspecially at the bottom .

It’s very interesting. I’m not exactly sure about it being built originally an air receiver although of course it could well have been used as one at some time in its career.

The bellied, cauldron-like profile somehow suggests an early date and it seems from the photos that the bottom of the vessel was constructed from just one piece of iron, with a riveted collar holding the hemispherical top in place. It almost looks like a condenser from the Newcomen/haystack boiler era. But what would you use this for? You couldn’t power any sizable machinery with this. Could it have been used to provide steam/power for some other industrial purpose?

I'd better dig out my books some time today.

Is it a retort of some kind?

It almost looks like a condenser from the Newcomen/haystack boiler era.

Thanks for the ideas. It's in an area of collieries that supposedly used some of the first Newcomen engines, which might possibly date it a lot earlier than 1830/40. They would have been used exclusively as pumping engines.

The construction is different from the pics I've seen of Newcomens, but the shape looks similar.

Jim, the door in the side was cut out so isn't original. Whether the chimney was put into an existing hole in the top I don't know.

I realised the Door was an adition,

It was pipe connections i was inquiring about,to rule out a Receiver,usually,Clock on the Top,and 2 pipe connection,one on the bottom to Drain off water,and the upper one for the release of Compressed air.

boiler steam dome?

looks like a reciever for a ram pump this was fitted on the outlet upside down and filled with air this acted like a spring smoothing out the pulses from the ram pump (saw a similar one years ago in an old inset at fryston colliery) bet its still there too!

Found at side of railway track? The railways have recycled the domes off boiler barrels and fixed a chimney to them. These would be positioned under the water cranes / towers with a fire in them to prevent the water freezing in the leather bag that hung down... My guess is that this is one of them. On stations a brazier was used but in outer areas a slow burning fire could be lit and left for a longer period. These were usually made for purpose but have heard of this being done... hence the fire door cut in... :)
If not off a train boiler my guess is wherever it came from that was its purpose... must admit the curved section puts me off thinking loco dome... :confused:

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Looking at the bottom tapered flange it is similar to one half of a 'Victaulic Coupling'
In industry similar types of coupling are frequently used to connect such items as large pipes which may need to be removed for regular maintenance or safety isolation. Removes the need for a multi-bolt flange etc.

If this was the case the previous use may well have been in some sort of condenser?


http://www.upflow.com/victaulic.html 

it looks like what anyone would do on a winters day, use up owt lying about to make a fireplace, looks like thats what some-one did. where`s the chestnuts.

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