What is the purpose of this unreachable lever?

Question

I love to roam the world, looking for adventures. This led me, among many other places, to Ironbind Barrow - good place with good treasure and it gave me a good laugh (see below) but that's not the point. After getting out to the Lookout, I saw strange structure far below. I done my mountain goat dance (don't ask) and reached it unharmed in the short way and this is what I saw: (click for full image)

I came closer to find this lever inside those walls: (click for full image)

Anyone know what is this lever? Don't have any name or reference for Google search and all my efforts to push it or take the walls down failed. (The usual: Shouting, shooting arrows, running 7 times around the tower)

For those brave enough to explore for themselves, here is the location on map: (click for full image)

Oh... and for the fun part - I discovered the Warlord of the Barrow love corpses in strange ways - click here to see. :-D

Answer 1

That elevator goes to Blackreach. You will go there as part of the main quest. There are quite a few of them scattered throughout the land. Once you enter Blackreach, you will open the gates from the inside.

Lift locations:

• Great Lift at Alftand
• Great Lift at Mzinchaleft
• Great Lift at Raldbthar

Answer 2

It's a "Great Lift" (i.e. elevator) coming from a vast underground Dwemer ruin. They all connect to a place called Blackreach which you run into during the main quest line.

There are three great lifts that come up from the ruin and you can get down (and up) via four other locations: Alftand, Mzinchaleft, Raldbthar and the Tower of Mzark. The Blackreach page on UESP has more detail about the quest itself and locations where you can travel down to the ruin.

Answer 3

You can also reach it with the vampire dawnguard mod as part of its main quest to find elder scrolls, that location is the quickest way out of the dwemer ruins from where you end that part of the queat with Septimus Signus.