Where the facts come from
Every factual claim on this site links to its source. This is the full list.
How we checked
Each fact was written in our own words alongside its source. Our build script stores the text of every source and, for each fact, checks that the key words and figures really appear in it. 138 of 138 checks passed when this site was last built (13 November 2026). Where we couldn’t find a named source saying something, we left it out. Where good sources disagree, we say so and give both.
Where sources differ
- Size. 72 feet 6 inches, over 22 metres (Manx National Heritage visiting page; the 1854 Illustrated London News gives 72 feet 6 inches too), 22.1 m or 72.6 feet (Manx National Heritage news, 2022 and 2024), or 22 m and 72.5 feet (Manx National Heritage access guide, 2026). They are the same wheel, rounded differently.
- The record. The largest working water wheel in the world (Manx National Heritage visiting page; BBC: the biggest waterwheel in the world), the largest working historic water wheel in the world (2024 news), the largest surviving working water wheel of its kind in the world (access guide), the largest working waterwheel in the British Isles (Google Arts & Culture story), or in 1854 the largest wheel in Europe (Manx Sun).
- Steps to the top. 95 spiral steps (Manx National Heritage visiting page) or 96 (Manx National Heritage learning page; Visit Isle of Man).
- What kind of wheel. Pitchback or backshot (Google Arts & Culture; British Mining No 3) or breast-shot (Illustrated London News, 1854).
- The rods. 600 feet of rods (1854), a rod of 210 yards or 192 m (Google Arts & Culture), pumps 183 m away (same story), a rod duct about 200 yards long (same story) or 32 arches over 169 m (Manx National Heritage, 2024).
- How deep. The Engine Shaft: 247 fathoms below adit, about 452 m (Google Arts & Culture, Historically Manx) or about 455 m below adit (Northern Mine Research Society). The mine: 200 fathoms in 1854, some 300 fathoms under adit (British Mining No 3), nearly 600 m by 1900 (Google Arts & Culture) or more than 670 m (Visit Isle of Man).
- When the mine closed. 1929 (Manx National Heritage news, 2022), abandoned in 1932 (Google Arts & Culture) or closure in 1934 (Northern Mine Research Society).
- The opening. 27 September 1854 everywhere except one Visit Isle of Man post, which says 1954: a typing slip.
All sources (13)
- Manx National Heritage on Google Arts & Culture: Laxey Wheel (36 facts)
- Illustrated London News, 14 October 1854: Gigantic water-wheel (transcribed by Frances Coakley, A Manx Note Book) (15 facts)
- Manx National Heritage news: Official reopening of the Great Laxey Wheel (13 October 2022) (13 facts)
- Manx National Heritage: Museum on the Move, Laxey Wheel (13 facts)
- Manx National Heritage: The Great Laxey Wheel, Queeyl Vooar Laksey (visiting page, read 13 November 2026) (13 facts)
- Manx National Heritage: Access Guide to the Great Laxey Wheel and Mines Trail (2026) (9 facts)
- Northern Mine Research Society: Laxey Mine (9 facts)
- Visit Isle of Man: The history of the Great Laxey Wheel (May 2025) (8 facts)
- Isle of Man Today: Pictures show behind the scenes of work to restore the famous Laxey wheel (7 facts)
- Manx National Heritage news: Conservation of the Great Laxey Wheel, Phase 2 begins (7 March 2024) (6 facts)
- Northern Mine Research Society: British Mining No 3 (1976), Isle of Man mines (5 facts)
- BBC One: Villages by the Sea, Series 3, Laxey (3 facts)
- Historically Manx: Great Laxey Mines, Engine Shaft (1 fact)