Laxey of the Isle of Man, was built in 1854 to pump water from the Laxey mine shafts. Now a tourist attraction, it remains the largest working waterwheel in the world. Designed by Robert Casement, it is in diameter and wide. It revolves at about 3 rpm. The mines employed over 600 miners at their peak, producing lead, copper, silver and zinc, until they closed in 1929. The Wheel was owned by Edwin Kneale from 1939 to 1965; he saved it from being dismantled and ran it as a tourist attraction, before passing it on to the Manx nation, with the
SS Ellan Vannin (1854) of Scarlett, another at the old pier-head and a third on the quay. Work had also been undertaken by the Commissioners of Harbours in order to deepen the harbour so as to accommodate the new vessel. The "Ellan Vannin" departed Liverpool at 08:00hrs and made good time during the passage. Just after 14:00hrs she rounded Langness Point and entered Castletown Bay, amidst the booming of the cannon and the cheering of the crowd, arriving off the pier at 14:20hrs having made passage in 6 hours 20 minutes. After landing her passengers and the directors who had been on board, the