Lady Isabella - The Great Laxey Wheel by Andrew Scarffe BEM
NEW - March 2026
A little over one hundred and seventy-five years ago, the Laxey Mining Company began the construction of a waterwheel to pump water out of the lowest depths of the Great Laxey Mine. But this was not to be a simple and ordinary waterwheel - it was to be the biggest waterwheel in the world. Christened Lady Isabella, in honour of Lady Isabella Hope, the wife of the Island's then Lt Governor Sir Charles Hope, it was painted brightly in white, red and black and decorated with the largest ever casting of the Three Legs of Man. A spiral staircase wound around a tower to a viewing platform mounted on top of the waterwheel from where the more intrepid could view the surrounding countryside. Water to power the waterwheel was fed through an underground pipe, invisible to onlookers, perhaps with the intention of deliberately confusing them. Situated in the mouth of a valley from where it could be seen from as far as possible, it was intended to make a statement to be a conspicuous symbol of Victorian engineering skill, of the importance of the Laxey Mining Company and of the wealth which lay beneath Laxey's hillsides.
Remarkably, the Lady Isabella still turns today and it is still the largest waterwheel in the world! As one of the Isle of Man's most popular tourist attractions, it is visited by many thousands of tourists each year.
This booklet recalls the history of the Lady Isabella, how the recent preservation work was carried out and how the waterwheel works.
Andrew Scarffe BEM
Paperback 54 pages, 20cm x 20cm