Verdant Works - flywheel

Image: © Chris Allen Taken: 21 Oct 2016

Verdant Works is a former flax and jute spinning mill that is now a museum of the jute industry. This rather impressive cast iron flywheel is displayed in the main mill block. It c1840s/1850s and from the original steam engine used to power Park Mill, Douglas Street, Dundee. When the engine was replaced in 1921 this wheel was considered too heavy to move easily and was buried under the mill's courtyard. It was recovered by contractors during work in 2014 and brought to Verdant works for display. The smaller inner wheel is grooved for ropes to drive two floors of the mill. This is almost certainly a later addition to supplement an original gear drive (at that vintage the original drive would be by gears). Above and to the right of the wheel is a bearing box in the wall that would have been part of Verdant works original steam powered drive system.

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