British Universities Film & Video Council

moving image and sound, knowledge and access

Newcomen’s Atmospheric Engine

Series

Series Name
Shell Cinemagazine

Issue

Issue No.
20
Date Released
1952
Stories in this Issue:
  1. 1Newcomen’s Atmospheric Engine
  2. 2Off the Beaten Track
  3. 3Soap Box Derby

Story

Story No. within this Issue
1 / 3
Summary
BFI Summary - one of the oldest steam engines in the world at work
Shell synopsis: The first feature is entitled ‘Newcomen’s Atmospheric Engine’.  In 1705 Thomas Newcomen, a Devonshire ironmonger, designed his first practical steam engine. It was initially used for raising water for mine workers. Newcomen’s principles of a beam and piston that moves inside a cylinder became the basic design for subsequent engines.
Newcomen’s engines, with their open topped cylinders, reigned supreme for more than seventy years. They were used for pumping water from the coal and lead mines in the north of England and the tin and copper mines of the west. They were also employed in cities to supply water. More than two hundred years after Newcomen’s death in 1729, a few of his working engines still exist as a memorial to the pioneer of the mechanical steam engine.
Keywords
Engineering; History and archaeology
Written sources
British Film Institute Databases   Used for synopsis
Film User   Vol.6 No.72, October 1952, p.514
Shell Visual Media Services Information   Master Tape No.: U1525
Credits:
Director
J. A. D. Cartwright
Production Co.
Shell Film Unit

This series is held by:

Film Archive

Name
British Film Institute (BFI)
Email
For BFI National Archive enquiries:
nonfictioncurators@bfi.org.uk
For commercial/footage reuse enquiries:
footage.films@bfi.org.uk
Web
http://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web
Phone
020 7255 1444
Fax
020 7580 7503
Address
21 Stephen Street
London W1T 1LN
Notes
The BFI National Archive also preserves the original nitrate film copies of British Movietone News, British Paramount News, Empire News Bulletin, Gaumont British News, Gaumont Graphic, Gaumont Sound News and Universal News (the World War II years are covered by the Imperial War Museum).
Series held
View all series held by British Film Institute (BFI)
Name
Shell Film and Video Unit
Email
Filmservices@Shell.com
Web
http://www.shell.com
Address
Creative Solutions
Shell Centre
London SE1 7NA
Series held
View all series held by Shell Film and Video Unit

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