MineSweden · SE
Polhemshjulet
Polhem's Wheel (Polhemshjulet) in Kärrgruvan is Sweden's largest preserved water wheel, standing an impressive 15 metres in diameter. Built in 1876, it once drove pump rods nearly a kilometre through the bedrock to keep the iron ore mines of the Mossgruvefält free from flooding — a feat of pre-electric engineering that continued in operation until 1920. Today the wheel sits half-cut into the bedrock inside its simple timber wheelhouse, still complete with crank arms weighing 850 kg each. The surrounding mining landscape, the three-kilometre feeder canal, and a preserved section of the power-transmission rod route all form a remarkably atmospheric and accessible heritage site in the heart of Sweden's Bergslagen mining district.