Engine House About 140 Metres South Of Canonteign Barton

CHRISTOW SX 88 SW 5/73 Engine House about 140 metres south of Canonteign Barton GV II Engine house at Wheal Exmouth lead and barytes mine. 1853. Stone rubble with ashlar granite dressings. Unusually ornamental, in a classical style to match the adjacent octagonal ventilation shaft (q.v.). Plan: Rectangular on plan with a large doorway on the south west side, facing the road. Exterior: Originally 3 storeys, top storey incomplete. Grand rusticated granite round-headed doorway on south west side with a keystone, rusticated granite quoins. The doorway retains a timber frame with glazing bars, presumably for margin panes and an incomplete 2-leaf arched door with plain panelling. The south east elevation, clad in ivy, with a narrow ground floor doorway and first floor doorway with surviving timber frame, second floor window with 6-pane timber frame. The north east elevation has a round headed ground floor window with ashlar masonry, a keystone and a timber frame with glazing bars ; the north west elevation has 2 ground floor windows with segmental arches, ashlar voussoirs and 6-pane timber frames. Wheal Exmouth, operating from the 1850s to 1880, employed 70 underground workers in 1863. The site of the mine was visible from Canonteign House (q.v.), the Exmouth family seat built in 1828 but later screened from it by tree planting. The ornate style was presumably employed for the sake of the view from Canonteign House.

Listing NGR: SX8373283012