Duke Pit Fan House. Taking advantage of Whitehaven's rich coal resources, Duke Pit began here in 1747 with the first mine shaft sunk by mining engineer, Carlisle Spedding, and the second by John Piele in 1819. In 1765 the output from this pit was 216 tons of coal per week. What you can see today are the remains of a fan house built in 1836. It housed a large fan wheel measuring 8 feet in diameter which circulated air through the mine workings below. Driven by a high pressure steam engine, the fan created an air flow of 23,000 cubic feet per minute. This was the first attempt at mechanical ventilation in Whitehaven's pits. In 1870, a larger "Guibal" fan wheel was built, this time 36 feet in diameter and able to circulate 70,000 cubic feet of air per minute through the mine. Whitehaven's mines were notorious for explosions due to the amount of firedamp, or methane gas, they produced. Duke Pit suffered 3 explosions between 1842 and 1844. The explosion in 1844 killed eleven men and eleven horses. Duke pit closed in the same year with the shaft instead being used to ventilate the nearby Wellington Pit. The fan house itself is regarded as the best surviving example in the country.
Colour: brushed metal
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