There was an atmospheric engine at Pentrich Colliery, Derbyshire, based on a design by Thomas Newcomen (1663-1729). Newcomen designed an atmospheric or 'steam' engine in 1712. It was safer and more effective than the earlier Savery engine and was widely used to drain water out of mines. This drawing shows an engine, built by the engine-wright Francis Thompson (1741-1809), at the Oakerthorpe Colliery in Derbyshire which had a working life of 127 years. In 1841 it was re-erected at Pentrich Colliery, near Ripley, where it worked until 1918.