In the Cleveland ironstone mines there was a similar arrangement at North Skelton (NZ 675 183) from its opening in 1874 to closure in 1964. The two wheels were in line, one above the other, winding the usual two cages in a shaft 720 feet deep. It appears to have been done to accommodate a set of pumping rods in the shaft hung off the end of an inverted Cornish beam engine, the axis of which was at a right angle to the axis through the winding house to the shaft. The shaft was only 14 feet in diameter initially so by having two cages, each one square in plan, side by side across nearly the centre of the shaft, it left sufficient room for the pumping gear.
The other end of the beam engine had another set of rods pumping in the upcast shaft. The landing level for the tubs, of 2 ft. 6 in. gauge, was some height above ground level enabling them to be emptied down a chute on the side of the shaft directly opposite the pumping engine house, which was obviously located between the two shafts.
If the usual layout of side by side wheels and cages had been used, winding house and pumping engine would have been opposite to each other across the shaft so the tubs would have had to be run out over the top of the pumping engine house then turned sharp left (or right) to a chute further away.
The bigger than usual pumping equipment was installed because of these shafts being sunk near the centre of a syncline causing much water to drain there. These were the deepest shafts to be sunk locally so in order to maintain a reasonable output the cages were double-deck.
Hope this information is useful to John Shoebridge. For further information see my "Hope to Prosper : A History of Ironstone Mining at North Skelton" no doubt still available from Mike Moore.
Regards, Simon Chapman
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