John Wallis Titt (1841–1910) was a late nineteenth-century English mechanical engineer and builder of a particular design of large wind engine.
Early life
Titt was born in 1841 at Chitterne, Wiltshire to John Titt and Eliza Titt (née Wallis).[1] Elm farm had a post mill, which he worked for his father until he left in 1865 to join Messrs Wallis, Haslan and Stevens, agricultural engineers and steam engine manufacturers of Basingstoke, Hampshire. Titt worked for them for two years as a commercial traveller. In 1867, he joined the millwrighting firm of Brown & May, based in Devizes, Wiltshire. He remained with them for five years.[2] From 1870, Titt was an agent for Brown and May.[3]
Later life
In 1872, Titt established himself at Portway, Devizes as an agricultural engineer, employed by Brown & May. He was also an agent for Messrs Fowler's of Leeds, Yorkshire. In 1874 he entered business on his own account[3] and in 1876 he established the Woodcock Ironworks at Warminster. At first, he manufactured elevators. Titt continued in business as an agricultural engineer and iron founder. In 1884, Titt manufactured his first wind engine, for the Boyton estate. Titt continued to run the firm until he retired through ill health in 1903, the year in which he exhibited three wind engines at the Royal Agricultural Society's show, Park Royal, London. He died in May 1910.[2]
Identification plate for one of Titt's machines
After his death, the firm was run by his two sons.[1] At its peak, 150 people were employed.[3] Apart from the agricultural side of the business, the firm also handled bicycles and motor cars.[1] The firm declined until in 1929 only 25 people were employed. In the 1940s, under the management of G. T. Frost, the firm expanded again, employing 60 people in 1952.[3] A branch was established at Frome, Somerset.[4] The Warminster headquarters closed in 1986[4] but the firm continued in business in Frome until 2009.[1]
Titt wind engines
Titt made three main types of wind engine: the Woodcock, Simplex direct and the Simplex geared. After the firm was taken over by his sons, another standard type of windpump, the Imperial, was produced.[2]
Woodcock engines
The Woodcock engine was a conventional iron windpump. It came in two sizes, with wind wheels of 10 feet (3.05 m) and 12 feet (3.66 m) and could be supplied with a wood or steel tower. The Woodcock wind engine could pump water to a total height of 150 feet (45.72 m).[2]
Simplex direct engines
The Simplex engines came either as direct drive or geared drive. The direct drive engines had a wind wheel diameter of 14 feet (4.27 m), 16 feet (4.88 m), 18 feet (5.49 m), 20 feet (6.10 m) and 25 feet (7.62 m). A 25 feet (7.62 m) high tower was supplied as standard, but could be made to any height a customer desired at extra cost. The blades of the wind wheel were similar in design and operation to the shutters on a Spring or Patent sail. Some of the larger direct engines were turned to wind by a fantail. A single or double fantail could be had, per the customer's wishes.[2]
Simplex geared engines
The geared engines came in the same sizes as the direct engines, and were also available in 30 feet (9.14 m), 35 feet (10.67 m) and 40 feet (12.19 m) diameter. A 25 feet (7.62 m) tower was standard for the smallest three sizes, and the larger sizes came with a 35 feet (10.67 m) as standard. Again, a taller tower could be supplied at extra cost. The geared Simplex engines were turned into wind by a fantail.[2]
Locations
Two remaining wind engines made by John Wallis Titt are on show at the Wind Energy Museum in Repps with Bastwick, Norfolk.[5]
Titt wind engines are known to have been built at the following locations:-[2] unless otherwise indicated
Erected in 1898 for Bury St Edmunds Town Council at a sewerage works in the town.
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
40 feet (12.19 m) geared Simplex wind engine on a 35 feet (10.67 m) steel tower, itself erected on a 22 feet 6 inches (6.86 m) brick tower.
The largest Titt engine to date when built. The overall height of the engine was 81 feet (24.69 m). The 50 sails were 12 feet (3.66 m) long, tapering from 2 feet 6 inches (760 mm) at the tip to 1 foot (300 mm) at the heel. Equipped with twin fantails. Supplied the town with water. Proposal in 1900 to adapt it to generate electricity too.
30 feet (9.14 m) diameter Simplex geared wind engine.
Supplied Great Brington and Little Brington with water from a well 202 feet (61.57 m) deep. Capacity 40,000 imperial gallons (180,000 L) per day. Erected for Earl Spencer by 1894.
Erected by 1893 on the Tytherington Estate. Supplied water to a reservoir 3⁄4 mile (1,207 m) away. Water raised a total of 260 feet (79.25 m) in height. The original wind-pump blew down in a storm around 1935-1940. The site is still used to pump water for the village, not using a wind-pump.
Wind engine erected in 1895 for Bath Union Rural District Council. Auxiliary power supplied by a horse. The engine was 1⁄3 mile (536 m) from the reservoir and 130 feet (39.62 m) lower than it was.
Erected in 1895 at the Walcot Estate for Lord Powis.
Lydbury North, Shropshire
Erected in 1896 at the Walcot Estate for Lord Powis, replacing a steam engine. Supplied water from a well 15 feet (4.57 m) deep to a height of 84 feet (25.60 m). The tank was 480 yards (440 m) from the wind engine.
30 feet (9.14 m) Simplex on a 35 feet (10.67 m) hexagonal steel tower, itself built on a stone base.
Erected in February 1899 at Boyle Hall for Luther Colbeck. Generated electricity. A dynamo powered 110 lights, mostly rated at 16 candlepower, with some rated at 8 candlepower.
In 1910 a borehole was sunk in the middle of the village, which is situated in a valley. One pump was erected to move water up the hill to a reservoir which then supplied the village by gravity. This pump was later converted to electricity before being removed when mains water arrived in the 1970s. A second pump moved water further up the hill to a second reservoir which then fed water troughs for livestock.[15]
The name "Simplex" was independently used by an Australian windmill manufacturer (the Intercolonial Boring Company) for its windmills, with the name used to describe greatness in simplicity. The windmill and its design had no association with Titt's machines.[16] A restored IBC Direct Acting Simplex windmill is part of the National Museum of Australia collection. It is 13 metres high with a six-metre sail diameter. The windmill drew water from the Great Artesian Basin at Kenya Station in central Queensland from the 1920s until 1988, when it was decommissioned.[17] It was subsequently donated to the museum in 2008 and installed in 2011.[18][19]
