| Description | 14 horse power double-acting sun & planet engine, with 20 inch cylinder, 5 foot stroke, parallel motion.
Includes coloured original and reverse general view of the engine, coloured original and reverse plans and sections of the engine, boiler and engine and boiler houses, reverse drawing of framing; parallel motion - coloured original and reverse copy dated "28 Oct. 1788 12 Feb. 1789" and marked "from Peels", second uncoloured drawing marked "from Peels - secd. drawing but is exactly the same in every respect as the first"; working gear - reverse front and side views marked "sent to put up the engine by", reverse front and side views marked "Reverse of one sent to Soho" and "The nozzles the same as those of Messrs. Peels - but the working gear in the manner of Ecton"; cistern; sections of the grinding shop, coloured floor plan of the polishing shop, floor plans of grinding and polishing shops showing engine house, rough floor plans of shops, rough ground plan of yard and houses, sketch of machinery; rough sketches of boiler, steam pipe socket etc.; "memorandums concerning Ravenhead Glass house engine", 7 Aug. 1788, by James Watt; letter and sketch from Henry Gardner to John Southern, dated Liverpool, 26 Jul. 1789, about the framing for the engine. Most of the engine drawings bear letter codes.
Original Portfolio or 'Book' No. 111. Catalogue of Old Engines p. 30.
For the Royal Plate Glass Co. Engine drove grinding and polishing machinery at the glass manufactory, Ravenhead, near Prescot. The Engine Agreement describes the firm as the "Company of British Cast Plate Glass Manufacturers", and the Catalogue of Old Engines lists it as the "British Cast Plate Glass Co." However most of the drawings are marked Royal Plate Glass Co. The governor was Sir Herbert Mackworth. The firm was later referred to as the British Plate Glass Co.
See also: Engine Agreements.
Published references: Tann, p. 146 - coloured plan of the polishing shop. |