A historic 159-year-old crane rescued from a Wiltshire quarry has been handed over to the people of Bath & North East Somerset.
The oldest surviving hand crane made by the Bath-based Stothert & Pitt company was built around 1864.
The six-tonne crane spent decades being used by quarrymen in Box before falling into disrepair and was then rescued by a group of Wiltshire enthusiasts.
The Stothert & Pitt Crane Restoration Team have now completely re-assembled the crane on the site in Bath where it was originally made.
The group consisted of Peter Dunn, Arthur Feltham, Varian Tye, Mary Sabina Stacey, Tony Wray, Paul Cooper, Nina Pollard, Mike Dodd, Stuart Burroughs and Geoff Wallis.
The crane was saved from the scrapheap in the 1980s, and since 2018 has been restored in the garden of former Stothert & Pitt engineer Peter Dunn, in Southwick.
Mr Dunn said: “The crane was made circa 1864 and is thought to be the oldest surviving crane built by Stothert & Pitt in the world.
“It is being dedicated to the skilled craftsmen and women who worked in the Stothert & Pitt factory from 1855 to 1989.
“It demonstrates the industrial history of Bath and a reminder of the stone quarrying history of Box, Wiltshire and the Cotswolds.
“During its working life the crane was used at Pictor`s Wharf near the Great Western Railway and at Clift Quarry on Box Hill.”
The crane was gifted to the people of Bath & North East Somerset by its previous owners the Bath Stone Quarry Museum Trust, founded by the late David Pollard, owner of Hartham Park Quarry and a historian.
It was rescued in poor condition in 2018 and was moved to Mr Dunn’s garden in Southwick where the group carried out the restoration works.
They have spent more than 10,000 volunteer hours and £12,000 bringing the crane back to its original condition.
Now the Stothert & Pitt Crane Restoration Team and the Bath Stone Quarry Museum Trust plan to present it to the people of Bath and North East Somerset for them to view and enjoy.
The event was held at the new South Quays site, formally the S&P Newark works, on the Lower Bristol Road in Bath on June 20.
Mr Dunn added: “Our final restoration activity was to supervise the full assembly by BAM Construction on behalf of B&NES of the complete crane in the former S&P Newark Works on the South Quays Site where it was built and tested nearly 160 years ago.
“When the South quays site is fully open to the public the crane will be a visible reminder of one of the many diverse products of Stothert & Pitt Ltd and a tribute to the many people who worked for the firm until its demise in 1989.”
Funding for the restoration work was supplied by The Bath Stone Quarry Museum Trust, The Association for Industrial Archaeology, The Bristol industrial Archaeological Society, The Cotswolds National Landscape, Hawker Joinery, Stephen Kerrs and Neil Garrett.
Stothert & Pitt was founded in 1855 and made various cast iron items, including several cranes which survive as listed structures on Bristol's harbour-side.
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