Brendon Hill
Derelict wheelhouse at the summit of Brendon Hill incline
General information
LocationBrendon Hill, Somerset
England
Coordinates51°06′00″N 3°23′51″W / 51.1000°N 3.3975°W / 51.1000; -3.3975
Grid referenceST022343
Platforms1[1][2]
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyWest Somerset Mineral Railway
Key dates
March 1861Opened for goods[3]
7 November 1898Closed
1907Reopened
1910Closed[4][5][6]

Brendon Hill (occasionally referred to as "Raleigh's Cross") was an intermediate station on the West Somerset Mineral Railway (WSMR), which was built primarily to carry iron ore from mines to Watchet harbour in Somerset, England. The line was unconnected to any other, though it passed under what is now the West Somerset Railway south of the village of Watchet. The station was located at the top of the line's most striking feature - a three quarters of a mile, rope-hauled incline at a gradient of 1 in 4 (25%).

The line's seven stations were designed by Rice Hopkins.[7] Brendon Hill was one of the five which showed a clear family resemblance. It was built in anticipation of offering the usual goods and passenger facilities, but no regular passenger service ever ran south of Comberow. The railway, the incline and especially the mines required labour, so a significant community grew up within sight of the station.[8]

Despite its location, which remains remote to this day, Brendon Hill's situation at the head of the incline, together with the happy accidents of having an early railway photographer in the vicinity and exceptional historians interested in the railway have left a rich legacy of photographs of the station in context.[9][10][11][12]

Services

The stone-built station opened for goods traffic in 1857. A passenger service began in September 1865, connecting Watchet with the village of Washford and the hamlets of Roadwater and Comberow.[13] Passengers were carried from Comberow up the rope-hauled incline to Brendon Hill and on to Gupworthy on a wagon, free of charge, but at their own risk.[14][15] As no fares were collected no tickets were issued to or from Brendon Hill.

The initial passenger service to Comberow consisted of four trains a day out and back.[16]

Like other railways built to serve one industry, such as iron ore carrying lines in Cumbria, their fortunes were at the mercy of that industry. Iron and steel making was given to boom and bust and suffered a significant downturn in the 1870s, exacerbated by imports of cheaper and better ore from abroad. The iron mines which provided the WSMR's staple traffic stuttered to complete closure between 1879 and 1883. The line did not close immediately, two mixed trains a day continued to run until 1898, when all traffic ceased.[17]

In 1907 the Somerset Mineral Syndicate made an attempt to revive the line, reopening Colton mine and starting a new bore at Timwood. Apart from a reopening day special on 4 July 1907[18] no passenger service was provided. The Colton mine was two miles from Brendon Hill, so the Syndicate built a 2 ft gauge steam-hauled tramway, complete with its own rope-hauled incline and a wooden trestle viaduct, to bring iron ore from the pit to Brendon Hill, where it was tipped into standard gauge wagons to be lowered down the main incline to Comberow then hauled to Watchet harbour bound for the furnaces of Ebbw Vale.[19][20] The Syndicate used Brendon Hill station building as offices.[21]

The venture collapsed in March 1910.[22][23]

Abandonment

After closure in 1910 the line was subject to minimal maintenance[24][25] until its metals were requisitioned for the war effort in 1917. This process entailed the demolition of the incline winding house at Brendon Hill, which was effected by the over-enthusiastic use of explosives.[26]

With neither track, rolling stock nor prospects an Act of Parliament was sought and passed to abandon the railway. Its assets were auctioned on 8 August 1924 and the company was wound up in 1925.[27]

Evocative contemporary descriptions of the line in its later years have been preserved.[28]

Afterlife

By 2016 much of the route could still be traced on the ground, on maps and on satellite images. The incline from Comberow to Brendon Hill is a Listed structure. Brendon Hill station building has survived as a dwelling and is also Listed.[29]

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Comberow
Line and station closed		   West Somerset Mineral Railway   Luxborough Road
Line and station closed

References

  1. ↑ Sellick 1981, p. 33.
  2. ↑ Jones 2011, pp. 247-250 & 314-5.
  3. ↑ Sellick 1981, p. 5.
  4. ↑ Oakley 2002.
  5. ↑ Sellick 1981.
  6. ↑ Quick 2009, pp. 399 & 459.
  7. ↑ Jones 2011, pp. 100-104 & 377.
  8. ↑ Sellick 1970, p. 109.
  9. ↑ Sellick 1970, pp. 33 & 65.
  10. ↑ Sellick 1981, pp. 24–25, 32–34, 47-49 & 58-61.
  11. ↑ Jones 2011, pp. 1247–250, 259, 268–277, 311-323 & 355-7.
  12. ↑ "Brendon Hill Station and surrounds". West Somerset Mineral Railway Project. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  13. ↑ Carpenter 1988, p. 44.
  14. ↑ Sellick 1981, pp. 6, 24 & 26.
  15. ↑ Jones 2011, pp. 263-7 & 286-7.
  16. ↑ Sellick 1970, pp. 104–5.
  17. ↑ Jones 2011, p. 399.
  18. ↑ Scott-Morgan 1980, p. 10.
  19. ↑ Sellick 1981, pp. 48–9.
  20. ↑ Jones 2011, pp. 315–323.
  21. ↑ Jones 2011, p. 314.
  22. ↑ Sellick 1970, p. 76.
  23. ↑ Jones 2011, p. 327.
  24. ↑ Sellick 1981, p. 35.
  25. ↑ Jones 2011, pp. 339–340, 349 & 360.
  26. ↑ Jones 2011, p. 268-277 & 355.
  27. ↑ Jones 2011, p. 352.
  28. ↑ Sellick 1970, pp. 66-67 & 76-77.
  29. ↑ Jones 2011, p. 357.

Sources

  • Carpenter, Roger (Winter 1988). Karau, Paul; Beale, Gerry (eds.). "Comberow Incline - West Somerset Mineral Railway". British Railway Journal. Didcot: Wild Swan Publications Ltd (20). ISSN 0265-4105.
  • Jones, Michael H. (2011). The Brendon Hills Iron Mines and the West Somerset Mineral Railway. Lydney: Lightmoor Press. ISBN 978-1-899889-53-2. OCLC 795179029.
  • Oakley, Mike (2002). Somerset Railway Stations. Wimborne Minster: Dovecote Press. ISBN 978-1-904349-09-9.
  • Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
  • Scott-Morgan, John (1980). British Independent Light Railways. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-7933-2.
  • Sellick, Roger J. (1981) [1976]. The Old Mineral Line (2nd ed.). Dulverton: Exmoor Press. ISBN 978-1-84114-692-8.
  • Sellick, Roger J. (1970) [1962]. The West Somerset Mineral Railway and the story of the Brendon Hills Iron Mines (2nd ed.). Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-4961-8.

Further reading

  • Dale, Peter (2001). Somerset's Lost Railways. Catrine: Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84033-171-4.
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1990). Branch Line to Minehead: Preservation Perfection. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 978-0-906520-80-2.
  • Thomas, David St John (1966). Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: The West Country v. 1. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-946537-17-4.
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