Parkandillick Engine House: I was very fortunate to have a tour with Tracy during 2016. It is a wonderful place oozing with atmosphere we had a great time. My thanks to Matt Cheeseman for taking the time out to show us around.
Image used here by permission: Mac Waters as featured on www.cornishmemory.com
The historical information here and on the following pages has been used with the permission of The Trevithick Society.
The Parkandillick Cornish Engine is a typical medium-sized Cornish beam engine. It worked here until 1953, pumping slurry from the china clay pit up to the mica drags or settling tanks. These were near the road above the engine. Like other Cornish Engines in ‘the Clay’ it initially worked at a tin mine before being moved to Parkandillick during 1912.
The engine was built during 1852 by Sandys, Vivian of Copperhouse Foundry, Hayle, for Wheal Kitty mine at St. Agnes where it stood on Old Sump Shaft. It has a 50” diameter cylinder and a beam of unequal length giving strokes of 10’ for the piston and 9’ for the pump. This latter was a 17” diameter plunger situated 240’down the shaft in front of the engine, at the end of the wooden pump rod. Slurry from the pit gravitated to the pump via an inclined tunnel.
