The engine house was built in 1903 -1905 as part of a re-working of the sett. It housed a 2nd hand rotatative beam engine previously used on Devon Great Consols, the engine itself originating from the Bedford Foundry. The engine house was unusual as it had a flat hipped roof as built and looked very similar in appearence to the engine house that was on the top of Kit Hill (K H Consols)... suggesting some local style it has been said. The roof was substantially intact a decade ago and had the front facia of brick in front of the beam. Many features can be seen still such as the cylinder bed, and slots in bob wall for trunion anchor bolts, the internal steel work is a bit of a mystery. The cast window frames are very noteworthy. Externally the feature associated with the flywheel and crank loadings for the pump mechanism are very obvious giving us a good picture of how the thing came together in operation. Apparently a set of stamps was also driven by the same engine on the west side. The boiler house and a generator were housed on the east side of the building.
The re-working only lasted to 1908 due to the crookedness of the shaft and continuous problems with the plant. It is believed they tried an electric pump which also failed to work!
The mine was later re-examined and some sources give the overall working life as 1850 to 1917 (though one reference states it was prospected up to 2 years after WW1).
Latter output was poor from below ground and from the reworking of the dumps. Output being milled at the nearby Clitters mill.
Known production totals were 65,710T Copper 254T Tin 152T Wolfram and 200T Arsenic.
I think its a super engine house and well worth a visit. I have put a couple of Archive shots in the Album for this mine showing it 10 years ago.
[img]http://www.aditnow.co.uk/showimage?f=/community/HINGSTON-DOWN-CONSLS-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-002/[/img]
[img]http://www.aditnow.co.uk/showimage?f=/community/HINGSTON-DOWN-CONSLS-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-001/[/img]
:thumbsup:
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh Creeper!!!!!