Case Study
Bishop’s Palace, Wells, Somerset
The restoration of an
original iron waterwheel
and pumping mechanism.
Following an earlier survey and report, Dorothea Restorations was engaged in the restoration of the remains of an iron waterwheel and pumping mechanism, originally used to move water to the storage tank on the roof of the Abbot’s residence.
The wheel had not been operational for many years and the original pit was full of dead vegetation and was overgrown.
A team from Dorothea Restorations cleared the wheel pit and retrieved the surviving parts of the waterwheel. The parts were used to manufacture a functioning waterwheel that can now be used to demonstrate how the water system was originally used.