Rebuilding the jigs and trommels to create a working mill
The Challenge
The jigger house was a mill used to separate the galena (lead ore) from the other minerals that were brought out of Park Level Mine. After the mine closed for the last time in 1918, the building became derelict. The photograph above was taken in 1982, at a time when the jigger house building had been consolidated but the interior was devoid of any machinery. Using old plans and the tantalising clues left behind, the Friends of Killhope wanted to recreate the working mill.
The Value
The jigs which were built by Russell Parkin and Ian Jowett. Alec Manchester commissioned the trommels which were manufactured by a local engineering company. The jigs and trommels are connected by a series of belts and gears to the large water wheel outside the building. Seeing and hearing the machinery working in the jigger house is quite an experience, and is an excellent demonstration of water power.
