Newcomen Memorial Engine facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Newcomen Memorial Engine |
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| Origins | |
| Type | Newcomen atmospheric engine |
| Designer | Thomas Newcomen |
| Date | 1725 |
| Country of origin | England |
| Former operator | Various |
| Purpose | Pumping water: Mine drainage, later canal supply |
| Measurements | |
| Cylinders | 1 |
| Bore | 22 inches (56 cm) |
| Stroke | 5 feet (1.5 m) |
| Preservation | |
| Location | Dartmouth, Devon |
| Coordinates | 50°21′08″N 3°34′42″W / 50.35228°N 3.57845°W |
| Working | No |
The Newcomen Memorial Engine is a very old and special machine. It's a type of beam engine found in Dartmouth, Devon. People saved it to remember Thomas Newcomen, who invented this kind of engine. He was born in Dartmouth. This engine is actually the oldest steam engine still around today! Sometimes, it's also called the Coventry Canal Engine.
Contents
What is a Newcomen Engine?
Newcomen engines were amazing inventions for their time. They were the first successful steam engines. These machines were mostly used to pump water out of places like coal mines. Miners needed to remove water to dig deeper and find more coal.
Thomas Newcomen built his first successful engine in 1712. It was at Dudley Castle. These "fire engines," as they were called, became very popular. By 1733, there were 104 of them working. Eventually, more than two thousand Newcomen engines were built!
How Newcomen Engines Changed Over Time
Even though Newcomen's design was groundbreaking, newer and better engines came along later. Around 1775, inventors like John Smeaton and James Watt created more efficient steam engines. Newcomen engines used a lot of fuel, so people often replaced them to save money.
However, old engines were not just thrown away. They were often updated with new parts. Sometimes, older engines were moved to different places where fuel costs were not as big a problem. For example, they might be used in coal mining areas where coal was cheap.
The most expensive part of these old engines was the cylinder. It was very hard to make back then. The wooden beams and pumps were cheaper. Because cylinders were so valuable, they were often moved from one site to another. Many old engines worked in several different locations during their lifetime.
Many of these older engines ended up pumping water for canals. This was often seasonal work, only needed during dry summers. So, using a lot of coal for a short time was acceptable.
The Engine's Journey
The Newcomen Memorial Engine has a long and interesting history. It worked in several different places before it was finally preserved.
Working at Griff Colliery
The exact early history of this engine is a bit unclear. But it was built around the early 1700s. Thomas Newcomen built an engine for Griff Colliery near Nuneaton in 1714. This engine was designed to pump 16,700 liters of water per hour from the mine. It could pump from a depth of about 43 meters (140 feet). This first engine was working by 1715.
The engine had a copper boiler and a brass cylinder. It also had cast iron pumps and other parts. The brass cylinder might have been about 40 centimeters (16 inches) wide and 2.7 meters (9 feet) long.
The mine owners paid a fee for using the engine. They paid £7 each week. They were so happy with how well it worked that they wanted to build more engines. They paid £150 for the first six months. Then they paid £420 each year for each mine that was drained.
A second engine was built around 1719. But the mine didn't make as much money as expected. So, the original owners gave up their lease in 1720.
New owners took over and had a third engine built in 1725. This third engine is the one we now call the Memorial Engine. It was probably a rebuilt version of the first engine. Its original brass cylinder was replaced with a larger cast iron one. This new cylinder was about 56 centimeters (22 inches) wide. It had a stroke of 1.5 meters (5 feet). The engine could pump 12 times a minute. This moved 68,200 liters of water every hour!
This engine was not very big, even for its time. It used a simple wooden beam that was 3.6 meters (12 feet) long. It was also built on a wooden frame, not inside a special engine house. In 1728, they bought a new boiler for one of the engines.
However, the coal in the colliery started to run out after 1728. The patents for these engines were still active, and operating two engines cost £300 a year. The colliery closed down over the next few years. In 1729, a spare brass cylinder was sold to another mine. The engines were sold in 1731 and 1734. This brought an end to mining at Griff.
Pumping at Oakthorpe Colliery
The engine's longest period of use was nearly a century at Oakthorpe Colliery. It seems to be the engine sold from Griff in 1734. This engine went to John Wise, who owned Oakthorpe Colliery at Measham. Later, Joseph Wilkes owned the colliery and its engines.
Important Upgrades
During its time at Oakthorpe, the engine was rebuilt at least once. After James Watt invented his much better "separate condenser" for steam engines, many improvements were made to existing Newcomen engines.
One important upgrade was the "pickle pot" condenser. This device worked like Watt's separate condenser. But it was designed to avoid breaking Watt's patent. Watt's patent lasted from 1769 to 1800. So, these "pickle pot" devices were used during that time.
The engine also shows a patched hole in its side. This is where the original Newcomen injection valve was removed. The pickle-pot condenser was an extension below the cylinder. It was connected by a large pipe. A jet condenser inside it worked like Watt's separate condenser. By calling it an "extension" of the main cylinder, it avoided Watt's patent. This also meant the boiler had to be moved away from its usual spot directly under the cylinder.
Other upgrades included using plate chains instead of older link chains. These connected to the top of the beam. The engine's valves were also replaced with drop valves. These were operated by a rack and pinion system.
The engine pumped at Oakthorpe Colliery until about 1821. It was then owned by Jonathan Woodhouse. It was likely replaced by a newer engine. So, it was sold again, this time outside the coal industry, to a canal company.
Helping the Coventry Canal
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The Coventry Canal Company bought the engine in 1821. They used it to pump water from a well. This helped keep the water levels in the canal steady. An engine house was built for it in 1837 at Hawkesbury Junction, Warwickshire. This building is still there today. The engine was sometimes called the "Coventry Canal Engine" because of this job. It worked there on and off until 1913. That's over ninety more years of service!
Saving a Piece of History
The Newcomen Memorial Engine was saved in 1963. The Newcomen Society preserved it to celebrate Thomas Newcomen's 300th birthday. It was moved to his birthplace in Dartmouth. There, it was set up in a new museum called the Newcomen Engine House. This building used to be an electricity substation. It also now holds the Tourist Information Centre.
Today, the engine is powered by modern hydraulics. You can see it moving in action when you visit the museum. It's a wonderful way to see how these amazing old machines worked!
