Castleton Water Wheel Museum Heritage

Dorset Waterwheel Museum houses Dorset's largest waterwheel, a Hindley steam engine, a collection of stationary engines, the 1852 map of Sherborne and literature relating to water supply in Sherborne.

Castleton Waterwheel Museum is run by a local group of volunteers who over the past 25 years have rescued the waterwheel and its house from serious neglect. The wheel, 26 feet in diameter having steel rims, 72 steel buckets, and a cast iron rim-gear, is unique in having three leats providing water in high breast shot array; it also has a system of ventilated buckets invented by William Fairbairn in the early part of the 19th century.

It powered pumps through a cast iron rim gear to pump water from the aquifer to a reservoir along the Bristol Road for Sherborne's inhabitants from 1868 to 1959. The Hindley steam engine was installed later to supplement the waterwheel's output. The site is still the pumping station, owned by Wessex Water, which supplies water to the surrounding area.

At the time when rescue work began there had already been substantial damage to the wheel through immersion in water and debris some of which unfortunately is permanent. The wheel was so seriously corroded that it is now being rebuilt at an estimated cost of £60,000. So far, we have raised about half this amount through the generosity of donations from visitors and substantial grants.

Opening Times

Open days July 8,15,22 &29; August 5 &12; September 9; October 7 from 11:00 to 5 p.m.

Costs

Entrance costs £1 for adults, children free, car parking on site, wheel chair access around part of the site.

Directions

The Museum is situated on Oborne Road in Sherborne just 120 yards East of the turning to Sherborne Old Castle

Additional Information

At present the waterwheel has been removed to be rebuilt, but you can now have a birdseye view of the wheelpit and the outlets from the three leats that fed water into the wheel's 72 buckets.

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