Always on
This project successfully funded on 11th June 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
MAKE IT MOVE: The Lady Victoria Winding Engine
Dalkeith, Midlothian, United Kingdom
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Aim
To return the National Mining Museum Scotland's iconic 1894 winding engine back to full operation.
Help bring our 1894 Winding Engine back to life
The Lady Victoria Winding Engine was a major attraction for the National Mining Museum Scotland. When operational, it provided visitors with an authentic and sensory-rich experience through its movement, sounds and smells. It was the most powerful winding engine ever built in Scotland.
You cannot replicate this experience through modern technology - it is completely one of a kind.
But it has been silent for over 6 years and now requires urgent conservation to get it back up and running.
Built in 1894, this enormous steam winding engine once had the power to raise coal and men from more than half a kilometre underground.
After more than a century of service, the engine now needs specialist investigation and conservation to understand its condition and protect it for the future. Our ambition is bigger than simply preserving a machine behind a barrier.
We want future generations to experience the power, scale and movement of this extraordinary piece of engineering.
Our first fundraising target is £8,000.
This will allow us to undertake essential specialist surveys, including an assessment of the engine and its components, alongside the initial conservation work needed to safeguard it.
This is the first step on a much bigger journey.
Step 1: Understand it (£8,000)
- Carry out a non-intrusive assessment of the engine and its key components, including the winding drum and drive
- Examine the twin engines and assess their condition.
- Use specialist imaging to identify internal corrosion from its years of steam operation.
- Provide an efficient and conservation-led approach to asbestos disposal
This survey is essential for identifying issues before they become bigger, providing the evidence needed to unlock funding. Secondly, we are looking to raise for preventive conservation materials to prevent further deterioration.
Step 2: Make it Move (£160,000)
- Remove asbestos, undertake essential conservation and reinstate electrical drive.
Impact
People are at the heart of this project.
- We will create new STEM learning resources for schools and visiting groups - the museum currently engages with more than 5,000 pupils per year.
- We will engage with colleges and universities to align with their courses, building upon initial engagement with Edinburgh College.
- This project is more than restoration. We will train a new generation of technicians and engineers with the practical skills needed to care for Scotland’s working industrial heritage.
- We are actively engaging with Historic Environment Scotland to enable the project to become a host for a pioneering new Conservation Principles qualification under development with the Institute of Conservation.
Help Make It Move
Every donation helps us take another step towards understanding, conserving and ultimately restoring the Lady Victoria Winding Engine.
- £20 can help us take the first step.
- £50 can help support conservation materials.
- £100 can help us investigate and protect another part of the engine.
- £500+ can help us take on specialist engineering and conservation work.
Whatever you can give, you are becoming part of the story.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made