Question Home

Position:Home>History> Does anyone know what this contraption is?


Question: Does anyone know what this contraption is!?
This is part of a photo which was taken in England in about 1924, in the garden of a tea-room or country pub!.
I am stumped as to what that thing is hanging on the wall of the building!. It appears to be a stack of round weights similar to the ones they use in school science labs, but a lot bigger, and it is supported by a pulley system!.
Anyone care to speculate!?

http://i234!.photobucket!.com/albums/ee34/!.!.!.
Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Oooooo, I LOVE a mystery!

I copied the pic and blew it up!.
It's the REMAINS of a Counter Weight!.
But the sheer size of it is very interesting!.
It's quite large, though, isn't it!?

The building itself is quite old!.
And the fact that it is attached to the building itself means what ever it did probably had to do WITH the building itself!.

Considering it's location, we can see it was not meant to lift or raise anything past the first floor OF the building!.

So, the question here is what thing of size was it meant to lift!.

The thought crossed my mind of a butchered animal!.!.!.!.a cow!.!.!.a hog!.!.!.like a butcher shop or anyplace that cut and sold meat!.!.would be large but I've never seen such an animal contraption like that attached TO a building!.

Therefore it could only mean one other thing!.

A door!.
A LARGE door!.
One the size of our garage doors!.
A heavy wooden one!.
Once upon a time many barns, stables, etc were literally attached TO the house itself!.
But because it WAS attached to the house, structure itself, the door would have meant protection and security OF the INSIDE of the structure, but still be quite functional for use!.!.!.!.the large opening in and out of the structure for a wagon!.!.!.large animals!.!.!.!.staple for a couple of horses!.
Or it could have been an inn of sorts, and the area behind the door could have been used as a type of small warehouse that required a large opening!.

I think the time came that the owners no longer needed an open room with a large door and just simply re-did it, walling it up and only leaving a smaller opening for a door!.!.!.!.therefore adding a much larger space within the structure itself!.

(Notice the materials of the small door are different than the roof!. The lines on the blg itself don't meet, the up & down one ends to the right of the corner of the door and there is no framing around the door like there is around the window!.!.!.!. it was all added later)

But I am positive it IS a Counter Weight to lift something of some size UP but not further than the ceiling of the first level!.

I'll surely check around and see if I can locate another similar photo though!.
It IS quite interesting!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

none of above upon approaching the pub you would see this l_l but upside down if you went to the same pub today roses would have grown round it!.You'll find many like it around england at entrances of gardens using various climbing plants!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It looks very heavy!

Two things that I wonder about!.

1!.Why is it raised !?It would be easier to leave it on the ground if it was not doing anything!.!.

2!.When it was in use ,why would they need to adjust the total number of weights!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Is there a large barn door nearby!? it looks like it could be a counterweight system for a door!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

some sort of crane!? maybe for a well!?Www@QuestionHome@Com