Engineering History at Summerlee

Recognising Scotland's Engineering Heritage

For much of the 19^th century and early 20^th century Scotland were world leaders in engineering; producing a vast array of machinery, tools and finished products. You will see a selection of rare and unique examples from the industry here on display.

Explore the machines up close, find out about the skill involved in operating them and why Scotland was at the forefront in a great age of invention and discovery.

The machinery is part of the museum’s Industrial and Associated Social History Collection which was awarded National Recognition status in 2009 by the Scottish Government. The award confirms the importance of the collection to the nation’s heritage; representing over two hundred years of Scottish industrial development.

The project has been funded by the Recognition Capital Fund administered by Museums Galleries Scotland and North Lanarkshire Council.

The Industrial and Associated Social History
Collection Cared For by North Lanarkshire
Council is Recognised as Being of National
Significance to Scotland

Early Boiler

This very simple cast iron boiler for heating water was installed in the church of St Andrew in the Square, Glasgow.

When the church was turned into a cultural centre in the early 1990s the boiler was donated to Summerlee Museum.

Butt Strap Drilling Machine

During the 1800s the steam pressure needed by steam engines got higher and higher. This meant that the outside of the boiler (called the ‘boiler shell’) had to be built very strongly.

The boiler shell was made by curving thick sheets of iron or steel into a tube. The ends were then overlapped and riveted together. A strip of iron called a ‘butt-strap’ was placed between the two ends to improve the seal.

A butt-strap and boiler shell drilling machine like this one was used to drill the holes for the rivets. The machine is lying flat now but originally stood upright with a turntable at its feet. The boiler shell was clamped to the turntable, which you can now see displayed nearby.

From Thomas Hudson and Companys Sheepford Boiler Works, Coatbridge.

This illustration from a late 1800s engineering manual shows a similar machine. Our machine is bigger and was actually fixed to a column in the factory.

The drill is now displayed horizontally inside the Engineering Pavilion while the turntable is on display nearby.

Waller Steam Engine

This steam engine was used to power the flow of gas in Aberdeen Gasworks.

From the 1800s until the 1970s every town had a gasworks. This was because before natural gas was discovered under the North Sea we had to rely on ‘coal gas’ which was literally gas extracted from coal.

Scotland. Licensor www.scran.ac.uk

The coal gas had to be cleaned before it could be used and this engine drove two ‘exhausters’, which pumped the gas through the various cleaning treatments before it was stored in a gas holder. This was one of several exhauster engines in the gasworks.

Stone Planing Machine

This rare machine is an example of the first type of planer for shaping granite blocks, invented in Scotland. It is probably the last survivor.

Machine tools such as this were an important advance in building construction in the mid-1800s, particularly in the North East. They made it possible to accurately work hard granite on a large scale enabling it to used as ‘ashlar’ or dressed stone. This innovation revolutionised quarrying in the process turning Aberdeen into the famous ‘Granite City’.

The stone planer was invented in the 1830s by James Hunter a quarry manager at Leysmill near Arbroath. This particular machine was built by Nicol Esplin, a company founded in Leysmill by a descendant of Hunter. However the company only lasted for 7 years, from 1906 to 1913.

Large Radial Drill

This big Tullis drilling machine was used at Thomas Hudson and Companys Sheepford Boiler Works, Coatbridge.

This type of machine is called a radial drill because it can rotate around its centre column. This is a very versatile tool because the drill and be moved along the horizontal arm and the arm itself can be moved up and down as well as rotating around the centre column.

This photograph shows the drill inside the Sheepford Boiler Works. Above it you can see a small crane attached to a pillar. Items would be lifted onto the table of the drill using a larger overhead crane that spanned the factory roof.

Glenfield and Kennedy Valve

This large Scottish-built gate valve was used to control the flow of water.

Historical Monuments of Scotland; SC682074.

Licensor www.scran.ac.uk

Glenfield and Kennedy of Kilmarnock specialised in building valves and pumps. They were founded in 1852 and grew to be the leading British manufacturer of valves.

One of Glenfield’s biggest projects in the 1800s was supplying huge gate valves for the Loch Katrine project to supply water from the Loch to Glasgow. The pipeline was opened in 1859.

Tuesday, 4 September 2012