| Description | Water Works Engines (45 items).
1090. New River Head, London. 1782, Mar. 1783, Mar., Jun.-Sep. 1785, Feb.-Apr. 1786. 45 items.
Double-acting engine, with 32 inch cylinder, 8 foot stroke, parallel motion.
Also single-acting sun & planet engine with 32 inch cylinder, chain connection (engine never built).
Drawings of John Smeaton's 1767 engine and boilers:
"Upright section" of the engine, boiler and pump (shaded); plan of the engine and boilers (shaded); plan of the two boilers, cylinder pipes and working gear; section of the boiler, cylinder and pipes with the working gear; plan of the auxiliary boiler; sections of the auxiliary boiler and fire place; plan of the building; external elevations of the building.
Boulton & Watt's proposed engine, 1782-1783:
1782 drawings: Side view of the engine and inside view of the rotative machinery and pump work - 2 coloured originals and a reverse copy (the originals are titled "Design proposed for a New Steam Engine at New River by Boulton & Watt 1782" and feature extensive explanatory notes.)
Set of 3 undated and untitled coloured original drawings: Side view of the engine; end view of the engine and boiler; inside view of the rotative machinery and pump work (this design is virtually identical to that depicted in the 1782 drawings above).
Mar. 1783 drawings: Coloured original and reverse side view of the engine and inside view of the rotative machinery and pump work, ground plan of the engine and boilers, plan of the first floor and elevation of the cylinder and steam pipe.
Also section of boiler marked "Proposal for a boiler by an Engineer from Staffordshire" (the drawing has later been marked "New River Head 1783" in the top right corner"); section of boiler marked "Proposals for a Boiler by Marby" (the drawing has later been marked "New River Head 1783" in the top right corner").
Drawings of the engine etc. 1785:
4 plans of the engine house, old Smeaton engine and proposed plans of new engine: 1 - shaded plan showing engines and 3 round boilers; 2 - partially coloured plan showing engines and new round boiler (the plan has extensive pencil annotations and is marked "Condemned"); 3 - partially coloured plan, similar to No. 2 (half of this sheet is missing); 4 - partially coloured plan showing engines and new round boiler (the cylinder of the new engine is marked as 31 inches). None of these plans are dated.
General view of the engine and boiler and pump, Mar. 1785 titled "3rd sketch of an engine for New River Head" (the drawing is marked "followed" in the top right hand corner but "condemned" on the left hand side); plan of the engine house and boiler and side view of the pump marked "altered".
General view of the engine, boiler and pump, Jun. 1785, marked "received from Mr. William Mylne 4 Aug. 1810"; coloured general view of the engine, boiler and pump; general view of the engine, boiler and pump - coloured drawing marked "the second floor drawn too low"; general view of the engine, boiler and pump - coloured [reverse?] drawing marked "Wrong heights of second floor"; reverse side view of the engine "looking towards the Old Engine House" marked "followed", plan of the engine house and boiler and pump; cross-sections of the engine house marked "This is the right drawing, which is followed" (these drawings refer to a plan which is now wanting - probably the ground plan of the engine); plan of the working beam and spring beams; parallel motion, plummer block, eduction pipe, parallel motion (elevation and plan) - reverse drawings; working gear - partially coloured reverse front and side views and plan; working barrel, stand pipe, pump bucket etc. (3 small sheets stuck together); plans and sections of the fire place etc. - reverse drawings; section of the pump.
Original Portfolio or 'Book' No. 58. Catalogue of Old Engines p. 176.
For the New River Head Water Works. Pumping engine, New River Head, London. In 1782-1783 Boulton & Watt proposed a sun and planet engine with a 32 inch cylinder to replace the 1767 engine designed by John Smeaton, which had an 18 inch cylinder. Dickinson & Jenkins note that this design was similar to the pumping engine with rotative shaft and fly-wheel that Watt specified in his patent of 1782. The engine was never built.
The 1785 engine appears to have been erected alongside Smeaton's engine. "New River Head No. 2" was erected alongside this engine in 1794 [see Portfolio 5/1082], by which time the Smeaton engine appears to have been removed. This engine was replaced in 1812 by the 48 inch "Western Engine"[see Portfolio 5/1089a].
See also: Incoming Correspondence (from Robert Mylne).
Published references: Dickinson & Jenkins p. 169, plate XXXVII - side view of the engine and inside view of the rotative machinery and pump work, 1783. |