Nellie – Darwen, England - Atlas Obscura

Nellie

Darwen, England

A 19th century house built vertical steam engine. 

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House built steam engines are ones that rely on the structure of the building that the engine is housed in to support some of the mechanism rather than being  free standing.  Some of the smaller engines installed in UK cotton mills were  constructed as “house built” engines and because of their reliance on their building structure they are rarely conserved after mill buildings fall out of use and are demolished or re-used. Nellie, as she was affectionately known by the mill workers, is a rare example.

She was built by George Rushton and installed in the Sunnybank mill in Darwen , Lancashire in 1898. Remarkably it remained in use until 1972, long after most Lancashire mills had converted to electrical power. In 1978 the engine was restored as a public monument on the outskirts of Darwen. The restoration involved the building of a new masonary structure to house the moving parts. The moving parts on display include the cylinder, piston and crank and the 3.5 ton flywheel. The installation is well presented with a 19th century gas light standard either side of the masonry structure and around the corner from the engine is the remains of some textile processing machinery that the engine used to drive.

 

Know Before You Go

You can park for free within 30 feet of the engine.

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