The Jessop and Appleby
Where the Forncett collection started - this lovely little 9 HP single cylinder horizontal was the first engine acquired.
Built by the Leicester firm of Jessop and Appleby in 1897 it worked until 1929 in the vinegar brewery of Crosse and Blackwell in North London. It was then transferred to the Sarsons Malt Vinegar brewery in Tower Bridge road where it worked until its donation for preservation at Forncett.
It has an 8" bore x 14" stroke cylinder, the unusual curved spoked flywheel is 4' 6" diameter, steam is admitted by a simple slide valve and speed control is by a Pickering throttle governor.
The writer witnessed the sister engine to this (above) which was retained and worked commercially by Sarsons until its last working day in June 1985, prior to 'export' to their parent companies museum in Switzerland - fortunately it is rumoured to have been 'repatriated' and the Sarson site is now a museum itself.