| Description | Crank Engines. (5 items).
479. William Overbury & Co., Avening. Dec. 1822. 5 items.
14 horse power crank engine, with 20¾ inch cylinder [?], 5 foot stroke, parallel motion, cast iron connecting rod.
Reverse longitudinal section of the engine house, plan of the engine house showing present boiler, present engine house and location of gig mills and stocks, sections of the engine house and boilers; press copy sketch section of the engine. All the drawings except the last item bear letter codes.
Original Portfolio or 'Book' No. 754. Catalogue of Old Engines p. 110.
For William Overbury & Co. Avening, Gloucestershire. The engine drove gig mills and stocks. The records are not clear on the exact history of this engine. Engine Order Book No. 9 [Boulton & Watt 4/95] refers to it as the "old Foundry 14 horse engine", suggesting that it was the 14 horse engine that Boulton & Watt installed in Soho Foundry in 1796.
However, in 1805 the Foundry engine had undergone extensive rebuilding, and its power had been increased to 20 horses. A new cylinder, beam and other parts had been added. The redundant 14 horse parts were re-used in an engine coded AA in 1811, which, according to Engine Order Book No. 7 [Boulton & Watt 4/93], was intended for the Lightmoor Co. in Shropshire.
However no records confirming the delivery to the Lightmoor Co. have yet been found. Moreover, a note at the bottom of the entry for engine AA in Engine Order Book No. 7 says that the engine did go to Overbury & Co. in 1823. Therefore it appears that Overbury's engine was a composite made of parts of the old 14 horse engine and new parts added in 1811.
See also: 4/93 (Engine Order Book No. 7).
4/95 (Engine Order Book No. 9).
5/1443 (portfolio of drawings of 14 horse engine, Soho Foundry, 1795). |