Photograph of a sketch of the Atmospheric Rotative Engine erected in 1790 at the Crank Mill, Morley, Yorks. From "Rambles about Morley" by William Smith Jnr. 1866
This represents the atmospheric engine erected in 1790 in the "Crank Mill " at Morley, Yorks. This mill was the first in the neighbourhood to be driven by steam power, and the engine remained in use till 1875, about which time this rough model was made. In order to meet the great demand that arose at the close of the eighteenth century for engines to turn mill work, those people who did not wish to pay the royalties for Watt's patent engine were obliged to adapt the Newcomen engine to work rotatively. The method finally adopted was to fit the outdoor end of the beam with a connecting rod to a crank on the mill shaft, to which was fixed a fly-wheel heavily weighted on the crank side, so as to store one half of the work done on the downward and restore it in the upward stroke. The flexible connection between the piston rod and beam was retained, but after 1798, when the patent for the parallel motion expired, this mechanism was usually added, as shown in the model.
