The Laxey Wheel (also known as Lady Isabella) is built into the hillside above the village of

Laxey Laxey () is a village on the east coast of the Isle of Man. Its name derives from the Old Norse ''Laxa'' meaning 'Salmon River'. Its key distinguishing features are its three working vintage railways and the largest working waterwheel in the wo ...

in the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. It is the largest surviving original working

waterwheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous blade ...

in the world. Designed by Robert Casement, the wheel has a diameter, is wide and revolves approximately three times per minute.

History

The wheel was built in 1854 to pump water from the Glen Mooar part of the Great Laxey Mines industrial complex. It was named Lady Isabella after the wife of Lieutenant Governor Charles Hope, who was the island's

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

at that time. The wheel is currently maintained by

Manx National Heritage Manx National Heritage () is the national heritage organisation for the Isle of Man. The organisation manages a significant proportion of the Island’s physical heritage assets including over 3,000 acres of coastline and landscape. It holds pro ...

as part of the Great Laxey Wheel & Mines Trail. The wheel features today on the reverse of the £20 notes issued by the

Isle of Man Government The Isle of Man Government () is the government of the Isle of Man. The formal head of the Isle of Man Government is the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, Lieutenant Governor, the personal representative of the Lord of Mann (currently Char ...

Technical details

A water-powered wheel was used because the Isle of Man has no supply of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

for a steam-powered pump. Water from the surrounding area – including a number of local springs and streams – is collected in a

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

, which is above the level of the top of the wheel. A closed pipe connects the cistern to the top of the wheel; thus the water flows up the tower as an

inverted syphon A siphon (; also spelled syphon) is any of a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. In a narrower sense, the word refers particularly to a tube in an inverted "U" shape, which causes a liquid to flow upward, abo ...

. The water falls from the pipe into the buckets (formed from wooden slats on the circumference) and makes the wheel rotate in what is described as the 'reverse' direction: it is a

backshot wheel Backshot may refer to: * Backshot wheel, a type of water wheel *''Backshot'', a novel by David Sherman and Dan Cragg in the StarFist: Force Recon series *''Backshot'', novel by George G. Gilman *A slang term for doggy style sex {{Disambig

. The

crank Crank may refer to: Mechanisms * Crank (mechanism), in mechanical engineering, a bent portion of an axle or shaft, or an arm keyed at right angles to the end of a shaft, by which motion is imparted to or received from it * Crankset, the componen ...

has a throw of and connects to a counterweight and to a very long rod. This rod runs along the rod viaduct to the pumping shaft 200m away, where the stroke is converted by a T-rocker into a pumping action. Most of the wheel and rod is made of wood; while key mechanical parts are metal to provide tension and bearing surfaces. The rod has wheels attached at intervals to permit the stroke's motion with minimal friction. Laxey_Wheel_08676u

Pump mechanism operated by the Laxey Wheel - geograph

Dimensions

* Diameter: 72 ft 6 in. (22.1 m) * Delivery: of water a minute from the Laxey mines some away and below ground

Mine

The mine employed over 600 miners at its peak, producing lead, copper, silver and zinc until it closed in 1929. In 1965 the Manx Government bought the wheel and site. The wheel was restored; in 1989 it was put under the control of

Musical wheel

The wheel has two pieces of music dedicated to it: one penned by Stuart Slack and the other by Helen Barley. Both are entitled ''The Laxey Wheel''.

References

External links

IOMGuide.com/LaxeyWheel
Illustrated and with visitor prices. {{Coord, 54, 14, 18.7, N, 4, 24, 26.6, W, region:IM_type:landmark, display=title Water wheels in the Isle of Man Buildings and structures completed in 1854