MSO8859 - Burrow Farm Engine House (Building)

[ST 00843451] Barrow Farm Pit (Iron Ore) Disused (NAT) [1] Burrow Farm Mine, one of a number of mines built in the Brendon Hills iron field, was first sunk about 1860. The engine house was probably built in 1880 [2] and housed a rotary beam engine serving the dual purpose of pumping and winding. The building was constructed of small killas slabs without worked quoins, with railway sleepers as lintels, and incorporates a round chimney with its upper courses of brick, on the Cornish pattern. A short branch railway joined it to the West Somerset Mineral Railway (Lin 103). The mine finally closed in 1883. [1-4] 19/1 Listed Grade 2 Burrow Farm Engine House. In a meadow close to the former West Somerset Mineral Railway and to the north east of Burrow Farmhouse. Dating from about 1860. It originally housed a large Cornish type rotary beam engine and did pumping and winding duty at Burrow Farm Mine. Rectangular Cornish features. Two main storeys. Mostly coursed flat rubble slabs. Tall tapering round stack at the north east corner with upper part of red brick. Large opening in north wall and other openings of various sizes in side walls. Some timber lintels. Ruined and roofless at time of survey (1975). [5] The engine house described by the previous authorities is visible on aerial photographs. The earthwork remains of Burrow Farm mine are described in ST 03 SW 20. [6,7] Extant ruined building, comprising of original chimney and engine house (boiler house removed) with later shed. [8] The building has been conserved by Exmoor National Park Authority. It is the last remaining example of a 'Cornish' type engine house in Somerset. [9] Remains of mine engine house and shed, dating to 1880. It was erected by Henry Skewis the mines captain. The building was constructed of local stone and is now a roofless ruin. The drying shed lays to the west of the engine house.This is the best surviving engine house on the Brendon Hills. (Greenfield, Exmoor Review, 1981). [10] A shaft was sunk through earlier workings in 1860, but the lode was inconsistent and the mine closed in 1868. It reopened in 1879 and the existing engine house was constructed. It is very well preserved - the only one in Somerset - and originally housed a Cornish pumping engine. To the south of the engine house is the site of the mine shaft and an adjacent spoil heap. These 19th century remains appear to overlie earlier openworkings recorded under ST 03 SW 20. Surveyed in March 1999 as aprt of RCHME's Exmoor Project. [11-13] Engine house remains as a standing structure and is a listed building. [14] Monument scheduled on 3 September 2004 together with a stretch of mineral railway trackbed. [15] The buildings were visited in June 2013 as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor's Listed Buildings 2012-13. The engine house received a BAR score of 5A and the drying shed received a score of 4A. [16] In 1990 the engine house was conserved for public display. [17] The site was photographed in 1999 by the RCHME. [18] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [19] The site was discussed in relation to potential on site interpretation in a newsletter for the West Somerset Mineral Line Association. [20] The buildings were assessed as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor’s Listed Buildings 2018-19, receiving a BAR score of 4A. [21]