We visited the Laxey Wheel to compare it to the wheel we had seen at Killhope. There were many similarities but we established that the Laxey Wheel was easily the larger; measuring a massive 72 feet 6 inches in diameter.

The Laxey Wheel was named after Lady Isabella in honour of the wife of the then Governor, the Honourable Charles Hope. It was officially opened on the 27th September 1854.

Its construction was of Manx stone and Robert Casement designed it. The rear tower houses the ducting that carries the water from the Laxey River to the buckets on the wheel circumference. The water comes out of the duct just below the viewing platform. A spiral staircase gives access to the rocker arm and upper viewing levels.

A simple sluice gate controls the amount of water entering the header tank. Surplus water is diverted to the overflow stream that runs down beside the great wheel.

There are good views of Laxey village from the top-viewing platform. Many of the Laxey miners lived in the houses at Dumbell’s Row, now often called ‘Ham and Egg Terrace’.

A number of stone arches at the back of the wheel structure support the rod duct that stretches for nearly 200 yards. There are 15 sections of pitch pine making up the rod and each one measures 35 feet in length. The entire rod moves on a series of pulleys and the far end is connected to the T-rocker.
In case of water shortage, a cistern reservoir is situated to the left-hand side of this duct. The T-rocker operates a beam pump, which extracts unwanted water from the mine. It has a stroke of 8 feet at the pump and could drain over 240 gallons of water a minute into the adit level.

At the front of the wheel is the balance weight in the form of a giant barrel. This is attached to the crank linkage and moves up and down as the wheel revolves.

Further up the valley are the remains of the engine and machine houses. These buildings fell into disrepair when the mine finally closed in 1929.

Miners access to the many levels was by way of the main adit. By the end of the late 1800’s, the Laxey mine was producing more zinc than all the other mines in the British Isles put together.

In addition to zinc ore, Laxey produced large quantities of galena, or lead ore, which, in turn, was rich in silver content. Smaller quantities of copper ore were also extracted.

It was said that the air in the mines was very close, warm and exhausting, caused by the constant blasting of the rocks with gunpowder, and also by the burning of the miners’ candles. In the deepest level, miners could work up to 1,800 feet below the surface. They earned an average of 26 shillings a week - which is just £1 and 30 pence.

The wheel and surrounding area today belongs to the Manx National Heritage. An extensive programme of restoration has opened up part of the workings near the surface and created new footpaths designated The Laxey Mine Trail. Hopefully, some of the mine adits will be restored to allow visitors to see more of the underground workings.