Duke Pit Fan House
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Duke Pit Fan House by Perry Dark as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Duke Pit Fan House
Image: © Perry Dark Taken: 1 Jul 2012
Duke Pit coal mine started in 1747. Here are the remains of a fan house first built in 1836. It housed a large fan wheel eight feet in diameter. Operated by a high pressure steam engine the fan circulated air through the mine workings at a rate of 23,000 cubic feet per minute. Despite these impressive stats the mine suffered from explosions from the build-up of "Firedamp" (Methane Gas) and was closed in 1844. In 1870 a much larger Guibal fan was built. At 36 feet in diameter it circulated air at 70,000 cubic feet per minute and ventilated the nearby Wellington Pit. The building itself is regarded as the finest surviving example in the country.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
54.547359
Longitude
-3.594443