the water course
Compared with the problems that would have bedeviled the design and development of the engine, getting water to it was simple. The brothers built a dam at a point where the valley was at its narrowest, some 1/2 ml from the mill and close to the boundary of their land.By diverting water from the top of the dam into a goit (a Derbyshire term for a leat or artificial channel) they added an extra 30ft to the available head. The goit was continued along the hillside to Moss Castle and from there water dropped in a pipe to the engine house some 100ft below..
Part of 1838 Tithe Map of the Township of Darley Dale
(click to enlarge)
The numbers on the map are references to the accompanying schedule of tithes which gives description ownership and land uses. Copied from the original, it is a remarkable example of early Victorian draughtsmanship
The Dakeyne mill is shown on the left side of the map and the goit starts on the right. The area of water above 1016that looks like a swan dipping its head in the water is the dam which is believed to have been called "The Blue Shuttle". The land below the "neck" is the dam wall and water from the dam was diverted via a duct through the wall into the goit which starts as a faint line running along the lower side of the adjacent wood.
Sydnope brook goes partly through that same wood, then meanders down the valley to the Fancy (987) and Regulator dams (982).
The goit continues into the large shallow ponds (1009 and 1001) some 50ft above the dams.and then on to Moss Castle, the Engine Head. That is numbered 1250 but it may not be legible at this scale. The route of the pipe through field 1249 is clearly seen as is the Engine House, the tee-shaped building at the end of the pipe. The line on the other side of the egine house is thought to be a launder or aqueduct carrying the exhaust water to the top of the triple wheels.
Sydnope brook goes partly through that same wood, then meanders down the valley to the Fancy (987) and Regulator dams (982).
The goit continues into the large shallow ponds (1009 and 1001) some 50ft above the dams.and then on to Moss Castle, the Engine Head. That is numbered 1250 but it may not be legible at this scale. The route of the pipe through field 1249 is clearly seen as is the Engine House, the tee-shaped building at the end of the pipe. The line on the other side of the egine house is thought to be a launder or aqueduct carrying the exhaust water to the top of the triple wheels.