Designed by Loam, the engine erected here was one of only two engines (of
the same size) built by Harvey & Co. during the period 1875-1880. The
engine cost £1,800 delivered on the mine, which was the lowest price ever
paid for a new engine of this size in Cornwall. The sister engine cost
£1,840 and went to North Wheal Basset where it was called Waddington's
Engine. The foundations for the North Shaft engine house were cut in
January 1877 in an area of waste tips along the south side of the Newton
Moor-Troon road. Prior to this an engine house formerly stood on Engine
Shaft, about 100m to the southeast; possibly material from this house was
used to build the new house. The new engine was able to drain the mine
working at only 3¾ strokes per minute.
In 1906 the beam broke in the centre doing considerable damage to parts of
the engine and a replacement beam was ordered from Holman's. The new beam
was considerably heavier than the
old one, weighing 38 tons, versus the
original's weight of 23 tons. Local tradition has it that the beam was so
warm when delivered that the men had to wear sacking or gloves to handle
it. However, an archive photograph of this event shows men leaning against
the new beam without obvious discomfort. The engine was scrapped in 1928.
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The house was demolished in the early 1970s and much of the stone has been
robbed and sold off. On the east side the house stands to just above the
plinth level while to the west there is a grade down to the level of the
field, caused by the
removal of stone and the weathering of the hardcore
loadings. There is considerably less of the engine house at the present
time than when it was recorded by the Cornwall Archaeological Unit in 1991 for the
Mineral Tramways engine house assessment.
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