Lady Isabella Wheel

The Laxey Wheel is a large waterwheel built into the hillside above the village of Laxey in the Isle of Man. Designed by Robert Casement, the wheel has a 72ft diameter, is 6ft wide and revolves at approximately three revolutions per minute.HistoryIt was built in 1854 to pump water from the Glen Mooar part of the Great Laxey Mines industrial complex. It was named "Lady Isabella" after the wife of Lieutenant Governor Charles Hope, who was the island's governor at that time.The 150th anniversary of the Lady Isabella was celebrated by the people of Laxey with a grand fayre on Saturday 24 September 2004. It is currently maintained by Manx National Heritage as part of the Great Laxey Wheel & Mines Trail.The wheel features today on the reverse side of the £20 notes issued by the Isle of Man Government.Technical detailsA water-powered wheel was used because the Isle of Man does not have a supply of coal for a steam-powered pump.Water from the surrounding area – including a number of local springs and streams – is collected in a cistern, which is above the level of the top of the wheel. A closed pipe connects the cistern to the top of the wheel; thus the water flows up the tower as an inverted syphon. The water falls from the pipe into the buckets (formed from wooden slats on the circumference) and makes the wheel rotate in what is described as the 'reverse' direction - it is a pitchback wheel. The crank has a throw of 4ft and connects to a counterweight and to a very long rod. This rod runs along the rod viaduct to the pumping shaft where the 8ft stroke is converted by T-rockers into a pumping action.

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