The Great Laxey Wheel: a giant red wheel that kept a mine dry.
Lady Isabella was built in 1854 to pump water out of one of the richest mines in the British Isles. The mine closed long ago, but the wheel still turns. Here is how it works, the miners it served, the man who saved it, the recent restoration and how to visit, with every fact linked to its source.
Lady Isabella and the Great Laxey Wheel are the same wheel. Every fact is in our own words with its source linked beside it. Where good sources disagree, we show each version.
The short version
The Great Laxey Wheel is also called Lady Isabella; in Manx it is Queeyl Vooar Laksey. Manx National Heritage, visiting
Manx National Heritage describes it as the largest working water wheel in the world. Manx National Heritage, visiting
It was designed by local engineer Robert Casement. Manx National Heritage, learning
It was one of several water wheels pumping the Great Laxey Mine, but the largest. Manx National Heritage, learning
A crank turns the wheel’s round-and-round motion into a push-and-pull along a line of timber rods. Manx National Heritage, Google Arts & Culture At the shaft, a T-rocker turns that back-and-forth push into the up-and-down stroke of the pump rod. Manx National Heritage, learning
How big it is, and which record it holds, depend on which page you read; the visiting page and the machine page set the versions side by side.
In December 1937 Edwin Kneale, a Lonan man, leased the wheel from its private owner and began repairing it. Manx National Heritage, 2022
It turned again in October 2022, after extensive work. Isle of Man Today
Explore
The storyOre, a self-taught engineer and a grand opening.
How it worksBuckets, a crank, a T-rocker and a lot of rods.
The mineZinc, lead, ladders and candles on hats.
Saving the wheelOne man in 1937, and a long restoration.
VisitingThe spiral stair, the view and the mines trail.
QuizTen questions and myth or fact.
Tile pictures are credited on their pages and on the credits page.