Newcomen's first working engine was installed at a coal mine at Dudley Castle in Staffordshire in 1712.
It had a cylinder 21 inches in diameter and nearly eight feet long, and it worked at 12 strokes a minute, raising 10 gallons of water from a depth of 156 feet.
The engines were rugged and reliable and worked day and night - a factor which made them hugely successful.
By the time Thomas Newcomen died in 1729, there were at least 100 of his engines working in Britain and across Europe.
They were used throughout the 18th century and were still influential into the 20th century.
One engine at Pentich was still operating 127 years after it was first installed.
However Newcomen didn't die a wealthy man. He received little credit for his invention,
It had a cylinder 21 inches in diameter and nearly eight feet long, and it worked at 12 strokes a minute, raising 10 gallons of water from a depth of 156 feet.
The engines were rugged and reliable and worked day and night - a factor which made them hugely successful.
By the time Thomas Newcomen died in 1729, there were at least 100 of his engines working in Britain and across Europe.
They were used throughout the 18th century and were still influential into the 20th century.
One engine at Pentich was still operating 127 years after it was first installed.
However Newcomen didn't die a wealthy man. He received little credit for his invention,