The mine was first sunk in about 1860.
The presence of a number of ancient surface workings in
the immediate area suggested that there would be quality ore at depth and by 1867 the shaft reached a depth of 150 feet. The ore body proved
thick enough to justify the expense of installing a permanent engine and in 1868 the Burrow Farm engine was erected.
Unfortunately, the ore quickly pinched out both in depth and laterally and the mine closed the following year.
The Mineral Line and Burrow Farm Engine House
- Photo supplied by Rupert Clegg www.exmoorphotogallery.com
It reopened in 1880 with another search for ore and consequently a new shaft was sunk about 400 yards east. This new
shaft was, however, short lived and the mine finally closed on the 29th September 1883 when all
mining ceased on the Brendon Hills.
Burrow Farm Engine House
Burrow Farm Engine House is the only remaining example of its kind on the Brendons, built to the design of Captain Henry Skewis, the Cornish mines Captain, and is of typical Cornish style. Comparatively small the 25 inch rotary beam engine used steam that was generated in the boiler house by means of a coal fired Lancashire-boiler. This drove the 26 feet long cast iron beam which rotated the flywheel (16 feet in diameter) via the sweep-rod.
The engine served a double purpose by providing both continuous pumping and intermittent winding. A slate tally board was fixed on the inside wall to record engine duty which was calculated by engine strokes per minute and the amount of water raised. This engine would probably have raised 100-200 gallons of water per minute depending on its condition.
The ore required no dressing and could be hauled straight from the shaft in skips to the ore platform by the winding cable. After being disconnected the skips could be pushed by hand along the platform to be tipped into trucks. These trucks could then be taken from the siding to join the West Somerset Mineral railway Line and then to Watchet where it could be shipped to South Wales.
Burrow Farm Engine House
In 1990, repair works to the Burrow Farm Engine House were carried out including the repointing of stone and brickwork, replacement of lintels and the consolidation of the standing walls
Burrow Farm Engine House
Burrow Farm Engine House
Burrow Farm Engine House
The course of the West Somerset Mineral railway Line near Burrow Farm Engine House
The course of the West Somerset Mineral railway Line near Burrow Farm Engine House
|
)
)
)