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Historic Tubular Boilers

When any historical heating system is refurbished and updated, the first and most likely item of equipment to be removed, replaced and then usually destroyed is the boiler. It is therefore, a very rare occasion for the Heritage Group to find or alternatively, be informed about an early example of a Victorian tubular boiler. To date only three examples of vertical tubular boilers have been discovered and photographed.

Three different patterns of the upright tubular boiler as displayed in catalogues.

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RIPON - YORKSHIRE

When ground works excavations were being carried out for the new foundations being constructed for a building in Ripon Yorkshire, it exposed an old firing pit, and an upright tubular boiler was unearthed and discovered. The cast/wrought iron tubular boiler sits on a foundation ring which has an open base that allows the flames from the furnace chamber underneath to heat the water in the tubes. The top of the boiler has a circular opening allowing the flue gases to exit through a suitable chimney. In picture 2 the firing door can be seen. The ash or clinker was removed through the opening which can be seen at the bottom of the pit. In picture 1 note the boses for the flow and two return pipework connections.

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BATH SPA - SOMERSET

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When builders were carrying out renovation work to a basement room of a residential Victorian villa
in Bath Spa, they started to clear away a brickwork enclosure in one corner of the room only to find
that it housed an old cast iron upright tubular pattern pipework boiler. The Heritage Group were
contacted and asked to visit and identify this historical equipment. The firing and ash clean-out doors
can be seen in pictures 1 & 2. A section of both the flow and return pipework from the boiler has been
cut-out but their alignment with the high level pipework can be easily matched in picture 4.

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After considerable care and cleaning has been carried out to recondition the furnace and boiler,
recent photos now show the original layout and construction of the equipment to its full advantage.

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CANTERBURY -  KENT

The Heritage Group were delighted to be informed about the discovery of another cast iron tubular boiler found buried under the floor of an outbuilding at a property in Canterbury Kent. When there was no further need for the boiler the brickwork furnace pit and its steps were simply filled with soil before a concrete floor was laid on top. When the owner of the property wanted to change the use of the outhouse and extend its floor area then the original floor needed to broken up. This then exposed the boiler in its brickwork furnace enclosure. It was decided to clean out the brickwork boiler pit and expose the top to show in more detail this very early form of boiler used for heating usually Conservatories, Green and Hothouses. A series of photos were taken recording the progress of the demolition works which led to the discovery of the tubular boiler and then its cleaning and preparation arranging for it to be on future display.

The original outbuilding	After demolition
Clearing away the rubble	First sighting of the boiler
View of boiler, flue and pipe duct	Close up view of boiler and flue

 

Top of boiler and its cover plate	Trench for footings showing pipework
Blockwork footings and rubble infill	Another view of trench for footings

View looking at bottom of boiler tubes	Wider view of boiler tubes
View showing top & bottom circular castings	New circular brickwork boiler enclosure
View looking down into boiler enclosure	View looking down upon boiler enclosure

View showing extra brickwork courses for new floor level

View showing courses of brickwork

Finished layout of brickwork upstand

Vincent Skinner set up his first ironfoundry in Dartford Kent before moving to Bristol in the West of England in 1858 where he built another ironfoundry and continued making castings for heating systems. It is therefore quite likely that with  the close proximity of Canterbury to Dartford that this could be an early example of a Vincent Skinner tubular boiler installation. For more information about Vincent Skinner

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