Uploader's Comments

Inside is a wheel 10ft. (3m.) diameter with 14ins. (35cm.) elm treads. The single rim of the wheel is in eight pieces of timber held in place by four spokes. The main spokes each carry two subsidiary spokes so that the rim is divided into twelve equal segments. There is a single clamping brake at the wellhead end of the shaft. The wheel was turned by a man to lower the bucket into the shaft. This was aided by gripping an iron handhold on the wall for stability. One account suggests that the wheel was sometimes driven by a woman walking inside it.