| Description | Crank Engines. (15 items).
245. Wright & Jesson, Wren's Nest, Shropshire. Apr. 1778, Sep. 1791, Sep., Nov. 1798. 15 items.
Single-acting blowing engine, with 36 inch cylinder, 8 foot stroke, chain connection. Altered to a crank, 1791. New working gear, 1798 [?].
Drawings from 1778: General view of the engine and engine house, inside front view of engine and boiler, outside front view of engine and boiler, ground plan of engine and boiler (Wrensnest has been crossed out and replaced with "Lord Gower's No. 2), first floor plan of engine and boiler; working gear, marked "for Hallamanin Wrensnest and Wanlockhead engines"; upper side of beam, piston springs, piston rod cap, chain link, plan and section of piston ring (all on 1 sheet, marked "Wanlock Head Hallamanin & Wrensnest engines"; clack; list of parts - 2 printed sheets listing parts of the cylinder, beam, condenser and boiler, with various details such as where they are to be made added by hand.
Drawings from 1791 alterations: general section of the engine, plan of the engine, crank and connecting rod, condenser vessel. All these drawings are reverse and bear letter codes.
New working gear, 1798: "skeleton of the working gear - original and reverse; reverse front and side views. All the drawings bear letter codes and are marked "Wright & Jesson's Rolling Mill Engine at Wren's Nest".
Original Portfolio or 'Book' No. 17 [in the Drawing Office Index only]
Catalogue of Old Engines p. 40, 288.
For Wright & Jesson. Wren's Nest forge, Shropshire. The engine was originally referred to as the "Wren's Nest (or "Wrensnest") engine" when it was ordered in 1778. The firm became Jessons & Wright in the 1790s. The engine was originally for pumping, but in 1791 it was considerably altered, fitted with a crank and applied to working forge hammers. If the working gear drawings of 1798 are of this engine, then it later powered a rolling mill. According to the List of Engines made at Soho this was the only Boulton & Watt engine at Wren's Nest.
John Southern did not allocate a number to the Book of 1778 drawings, but presumably placed the later drawings with them. The Book is numbered 17 in the Drawing Office Index. Hazleton listed the engine twice, among the sun & planet drawings and the pumping engines. Neither entry dates the engine back to 1778.
See also: Engine Agreements, Incoming Correspondence. |