The Winding Engine
Today Bestwood Country Park is a peaceful green oasis, but once this area was a sprawling industrial site. At its heart stood Bestwood Colliery - one of the busiest coal mines in Nottinghamshire.
The Winding Engine House is the last remaining part of that vanished colliery. The winding engine lowered colliers into the mine shaft, and winched mined coal up to the surface.
The tall brick building houses a huge winding engine. Originally it was powered by steam, but today's visitors see the massive engine moved by an electrical motor.
The engine dates back to 1876, the heyday of Victorian industrial engineering.
Tour the Winding House
Tours are free, and led by members of the Winding Engine
House Volunteer Group - a local community group dedicated to the
preservation of this wonderful piece of industrial heritage.
The Winding Engine House volunteers aren't around every
day, so if you'd like to find out more about open days or tours, please
telephone the Bestwood Country Park Rangers on tel: 0115 927 3674 (Daily, 10.30am to 4.30pm).
If volunteers are available to take you around the building, you will move up the various different levels of the building to the top where you can experience the sheer size and power of the winding engine. You will hear how coalminers descended into the darkness of the mine, lowered in a metal cage, controlled by the Winding Engine Driver.
Virtual tours
You can take a virtual tour of the Winding Engine House.
Self-guided tours
You can also take a self-guided tour by entering the building and accending in the glass sided lift. A recorded audio commentary will tell you what to look out for, explain how the mighty engine worked, and tell you a little about life as a miner.
Mobile phone tours
Outside, find out more about the history and nature of the site by taking our free mobile phone tour. Simply dial 0115 822 0268 and listen. You can also listen to the tour at home, by dialling from your landline. Why not try it now? Normal network call charges apply.
There are information panels around the site, with more information about the history of the Winding Engine House and Bestwood Colliery.
Find out more
Download a leaflet about the Bestwood Winding Engine House [PDF 1MB]
For press and media enquiries, email: linda.hardy@nottscc.gov.uk
The restoration of the Winding Engine House was helped by funding from The Heritage Lottery Fund and the Greater Nottingham Partnership.
Bestwood Winding Engine House has been inspected and designated a Place of Interest by www.visitengland.com
