A Complete Guide to the Engine Houses of West Cornwall, £18.00 + P&P
Damian Nance and Kenneth Brown, SB, 184 pages. 210x210mm. Printed in full
colour throughout on gloss art paper, perfect bound with laminated card
covers.
The book starts with a bri8ef introduction re the mechanics of the Engines
and the various mechanisms which enables the reader to more fully
understand the workings, how and why the engine houses have been designed.
I understand this is the first of 3 books on the subject
Mike
http://www.moorebooks.co.uk/A-Complete-Guide-to-the-Engine-Houses-of-West-Cornwall.html
(Publishers description) Nowhere in the world has metal mining been of
greater importance than it has in Cornwall and it is in recognition of this
extraordinary heritage and the global influence of the pioneering
technology developed here that the county's mining landscape was named a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006 on a par with the Pyramids of Giza and
the Great Wall of China. During the 19th century, Cornwall produced most of
the world's copper and tin, as well as substantial quantities of lead,
silver, arsenic, tungsten, zinc, iron and Uranium.
What made this unparalleled productivity possible was the development,
pioneered by Cornishman Richard Trevithick, of the Cornish beam engine, a
reciprocating steam engine capable of driving pumps that could keep the
even deepening mines free of water. Although few of these great engines
survive, many of the buildings in which they were once housed remain to
this day, forming characteristic features of the Cornish landscape that
have come to symbolize the county's rich mining heritage and now stand as
silent monuments to the mining industry for which the county was once
justly famous.
This book introduces these remarkable engine houses by providing an
illustrated guide to those in West Cornwall using contemporary and archival
photographs supplemented with brief descriptions of the engines the
buildings once contained. simple interpretations of some of their key
features, and short histories of the mines of which they were part. It is
not an exhaustive treatment, nor is it meant solely for the enthusiast, but
rather, it provides an overview intended for all those interested in these
historically important structures.
Together, the authors bring over a century of expertise to this
fascinating guide.
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