I'm just beginning to explore this amazing website, and I put "engine" in your search engine and came up with a BUNCH of hits.  I started looking around and decided you people are living in the tall corn compared with us in the US.  I have maybe 2 decent larger stationary steam engines to look at in a 200 mile radius.  At first glance I thought you were in Hawg Heaven.  Looked to me like you had MANY significant preserved engines.

However, I then came upon a picture of the Leigh Mill engine, went to Google to check it out, and came up with this from 1995: 

http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba1/ba1news.html

Down past the news about how skulls used to contain brains is this bit of stuff about the Leigh Mill:
"A rare example of an intact traditional spinning-mill, near Wigan in Greater Manchester, is under threat from a proposal to remove the original mill engine from the building.
The early 20th century, listed Grade II* Leigh Mill, with its surviving engine house and engine, is still used as a factory and now manufactures carpets. The owners, Leigh Spinners Ltd, applied for permission to remove the original engine to create more storage space.
Their application went to public inquiry in November, and John Gummer, the Environment Secretary, is expected to decide the matter later this year.
Speaking at the inquiry on behalf of the CBA, Ron Fitzgerald, an industrial archaeologist, said the importance of the 1923 engine was enhanced by its `extremely rare' survival in its original context. `Out of 238 listed mills in the north, only six engines survive,' he said. "

So, does anyone know if this is true?  Are there only 6 surviving mill engines?  And does anyone know what finally happened to this engine in the Leigh Mill?

Karl