The West Somerset Mineral Railway runs from the Brendon Hillss in eastern Exmoor to the Somerset coast at Watchet. The railway was built in the 1860s to link the important iron mining region of the Brendon Hills with the sea. Iron ore was shipped across the Severn Estuary to south Wales where it was smelted.
The West Somerset Mineral Railway - also known locally as The Old Mineral Line' - was an artery for this Victorian iron mining landscape on the Brendon Hills, but it is also an outstanding example of Victorian railway engineering, with a massive inclined plane as its centerpiece:
one of the longest, steepest and best preserved in the UK. Along the line are the remains of railway stations, iron mines, mine buildings, villages, schools and chapels that were in use from the 1860s until the beginning of the 20th century. As well as the
Victorian mining on the Brendon Hills, there are also traces of iron exploitation dating back to the Roman period.
Work to conserve and interpret the remains of the Old Mineral Line and its rich industrial heritage has been given a huge impetus with a substantial grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The grant was made in December 2007 and will enable
conservation, interpretation and access works to be carried out. It is fitting recognition that the Old Mineral Line and its associated industrial past is one of the most important industrial landscapes in
the region.
Work to conserve and enhance the remains of the Old Mineral Line are being led by Exmoor National
Park Authority who are working with a consortium made up of local and national partners including West Somerset Council, the Forestry Commission, Somerset County Council, Watchet Town Council, English Heritage, Watchet Market House Museum, the Exmoor Mines Research Group and the Somerset Rural Youth Project.
Information about the West Somerset Mineral Railway can be found in Watchet Market House Museum. Burrow Farm Engine House is a remarkably intact Cornish engine house - the only one of its kind in Somerset.
Timberscombe hillfort was built during the Iron Age (700BC- 43AD) and has yielded evidence of iron smithing.
The West Somerset Mineral Railway (WSMR) was an independant railway in West Somerset, constructed as a standard gauge (4' 8½") single-track line.
Its main purpose was to carry iron ore from the mines on the Brendon Hills done to the port at Watchet, but it also provided a public passenger service. The first section was opened for traffic in 1857 and passenger services commenced formally in 1865.
With a decline in traffic towards the end of the 19th century the railway was closed completely in 1898. It was re-opened in 1907, but with little success - the company was wound-up in 1910 and the railway was abandoned formally in 1923.
Although part of its route passed close to the Minehead Branch of the Great Western Railway it had no physical connection with any other railway, except on a few occasions when a temporary connection was installed between the WSMR and GWR for the transfer of rolling-stock
The West Somerset Mineral Railway is Exmoor's most spectacular industrial monument. It was built in the 19th century to provide an artery along the Brendon Hills to the coast at Watchet in order to export iron ore to South Wales.
The West Somerset Mineral Railway Seal
A central part of the railway is The Incline - a one kilometre long, 1in 4 inclined plane - which conveyed ore wagons down the Brendon Hills escarpment. Exmoor National Park Authority has purchased The Incline and has carried out a major programme of works to conserve this evocative reminder of Exmoor's industrial past.
Bibliography
"Mineral Railways of the West Country" - T Fairclough & E Shepherd, pub D Bradford Barton 1975
"The Old Mineral Line" - RJ Sellick, pub Exmoor Press 1976
"Railways around Exmoor" - R Madge, pub Exmoor Press 1975 (2nd ed)
"A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Vol 1: The West Country" - D StJ Thomas, pub David & Charles 1973 (4th ed)
"Somerset Railways" - R Madge, pub Dovecote Press 1984
"Somerset Railway Stations" - M Oakley, pub Dovecote Press 2002
"The West Somerset Mineral Railway" - RJ Sellick, pub David & Charles 1972 (2nd ed)
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