Kelly Mine

Kelly Mine operated between around 1877 and 1951. It was used to mine and process micaceous haematite, a crumbly ore with a grey sparkle used to make the corrosion resistant paint "battleship grey". Since 1985 the Kelly Mine Preservation Society have been working to restore the workings of the mine. The picture shows progress on the reconstruction of the water wheel, which would have powered the machinery in the dressing room. An email sent to the archive states that - "This is actually part of a replacement wheel, which was cast in Wellington, Somerset, by William Willmitt, for use at Chubworthy Farm, Raddington, on the Somerset-Devon border. It came to Kelly Mine via a mill at Ashbury"