Excavating the Iconic: The Rediscovery of the Fairbottom Bobs Colliery Pumping Engine

What is it about?

Steam engines were one of the first machine-types to attract the attention of antiquarians and later Industrial Archaeologists. From the first Newcomen engine in 1712 to the 20th-century steam turbine, these objects still exert a fascination for archaeologists and historians of the Industrial Era. None more so than the Newcomen or more properly the atmospheric steam engine. Such engines were described by L.T.C. Rolt as one of the prehistoric forefathers of the Industrial Revolution period steam engine. Only a handful of examples remain standing today, and amongst the better known are engines from 1791 in the Science Museum in London; from 1787 still in situ at Elsecar in Barnsley; the Coventry Canal Engine from Hawksbury; and Fairbottom Bobs from Ashton-under-Lyne, now in the Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan. Of these only the site of one, Fairbottom Bobs, has been the subject of modern excavation and historical study although it is in the nature of archaeological research that at the time of the site's excavation in 1999 the iconic status of this particular steam engine was not fully appreciated.

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Why is it important?

Fairbottom Bobs is one of only six Newcomen style steam engines to survive from the 18th century anywhere in the world.