A beam engine, modified by Harvey and Company of Hoyle in Cornwall and shipped to Scotland in 1874, pumped water out of the pit in three stages at 2,955 litres a minute.

[1] Cradled by woodland with views out over the Firth of Forth, the site is now a haven for wildlife where visitors are free to roam and explore monumental relics of Scotland's industrial heritage and discover giant machines such as the pit head winding gear and the Cornish beam engine, structures such as the powerhouse and a vast brick kiln, as well as coal wagons, a steam crane and more besides.

[2][3] By the early 1960s, the strategy of the National Coal Board meant that all of East Lothian's and most of Midlothian's collieries were earmarked for closure.

Second, the existing colliery included the first deep shaft in Scotland, which Matthias Dunn of Newcastle sank in 1830 to the Great Seam at 420 feet (128 m).

It was manufactured by J. E. Mare & Co of Plymouth to the design of engineers Hocking & Loam and used in three different mines in Cornwall before being purchased by the Prestongrange Coal and Iron Company in 1874 and shipped north.

It was bought from a Cornish Mine site by Harvey and Company of Hayle, who sold it on to Prestongrange complete with a new beam of their own manufacture.

The museum is also the gateway to the annual Three Harbours Festival, jointly organised by the communities of Prestonpans, Prestongrange, Cockenzie, Port Seton and other nearby areas such as West Pans and Drum Mhor.