Survey Data
Reg No
22803074
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social, Technical
Original Use
Waterworks
Date
1820 - 1830
Coordinates
246113, 115299
Date Recorded
23/07/2003
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Pair of waterwheel pits, built 1825, retaining fragments of original machinery. Waterwheels now missing. Coursed squared limestone retaining walls leading to Clodiagh Canal to south/south-east having axle mounting blocks (originally supporting waterwheels), and remains of sluice gates to north. Sited on canalised section of Clodiagh River (forming Clodiagh Canal) in grounds shared with Portlaw Cotton Factory.
Appraisal
Originally constructed to provide motive power to the adjacent cotton mill building, these waterwheel pits are of considerable technical significance, attesting to an exceptional hydraulic engineering system. Although long decommissioned, and with much of the fittings now removed, the structures retain fragments of the original mechanisms.