Unsuccessful proposals for railways in the Severn Valley

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Skeleton article incorporating information from the SVRSevern Valley Railway-Online Forum "Early history of the SVR on the British Newspaper Archive" thread.

Background

The Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway which would form the southern connection of the Severn Valley Railway was authorised in 1845 and opened throughout in 1853. The Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway which would form the northern connection was authorised in 1846 and also opened throughout in 1853.[1] The Severn Valley Railway Company (19th Century) was authorised to build the SVRSevern Valley Railway in 1853 and completed its construction in 1862.

Proposals prior to the construction of the SVRSevern Valley Railway

Between 1835 and 1853, a number of railways proposed, with varying degrees of credibility, to build a line crossing, following or terminating in the Severn Valley somewhere between Stourport and Ironbridge. Many of these proposals originated in the 'Railway Mania' which peaked in the mid-1840s.

Proposals included the following:

  • Birmingham, Dudley and Wolverhampton Railway: Proposed in the early 1830s, the route would run "...from the line of the Grand Junction Railway near Wolverhampton through Dudley, Stourbridge, Kidderminster and Stourport to unite with the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway at or near Worcester." A survey had been completed by March 1836. The Company wanted the Grand Connection Railway to join their route at Dudley rather than continuing to Wolverhampton, which became a source of dispute between the two companies.[2]
  • Grand Connection Railway: Advertised in December 1835, seeking capital of £800,000.[3] It was originally intended to run west of the Severn from Gloucester, crossing the river at Worcester. One branch would connect to Birmingham, the other continue via Stourport, Kidderminster, Stourbridge and Dudley to Wolverhampton.[4] Despite changes to the route, the Bill for the line was rejected in Parliament in 1837 and again in 1838.[5]
  • Worcester and Cardiff Junction Railway: Proposed in 1843, the main branch would begin at the Taff Vale Railway near Cardiff and pass through Leominster, Little Hereford and Tenbury. A branch was to run from Newnham to Stourport.[6] A meeting was held in September 1844 at which it was resolved to ask the Company "...to bring a branch line from Tenbury to Cleobury Mortimer, Bewdley and Kidderminster.".[7]
  • Hereford and Kidderminster Railway: Advertised in February 1845 seeking capital of £750,000. It proposed "...connecting Hereford, Leominster, Kington, Ludlow, Tenbury, Cleobury, Bewdley, Stourport and adjacent country, etc, with the Mining and Manufacturing districts of Kidderminster, Stourbridge, Dudley, Birmingham and the Metropolis.".[8] By April 1845 it was to be amalgamated with the Welsh Midland Railway.[9] Three months earlier in November 1844, a newspaper article referred to a meeting at Ludlow to discuss a proposed "Hereford, Leominster, Ludlow and Birmingham Railway" which was probably this proposal.[10]
  • Welsh Midland Railway: Advertised in April 1845 seeking capital of £3.5M. It proposed "...to connect the manufacturing districts and the seaports of south Wales ... with Birmingham and the great manufacturing districts of Staffordshire.".[11] A meeting took place at Worcester on 30 April 1845 at which it was noted that the proposed railway would be beneficial to the interests of the City. At that time the question of whether the railway would be built to 'broad gauge' had not been decided.[12] Notice of the intention to bring a Bill to Parliament was advertised in November 1845.[13] By 1846 the affairs of the company were being wound up.[14]
  • Worcester, Shrewsbury and Crewe Union Railway: Advertised in April 1845 seeking capital of £1.5M. The proposed route was described as "Forming a junction at Stourport with the London, Worcester and South Staffordshire Railway, the proposed railway will pass up the valley of the Severn, and through or in the immediate neighbourhood of Bewdley, Kidderminster, Bridgnorth, Much Wenlock, Madeley, Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale, to Shrewsbury, and thence… will terminate at Crewe.".[15]
  • Kidderminster and Welsh Midland Junction Railway: Advertised in May 1845 seeking capital of £650,000. This appears to follow on from the April 1845 proposal to merge the Hereford and Kidderminster Railway with the Welsh Midland Railway, as the advertisement repeated word for word the proposal of the former.[16]
  • Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company: First proposed by Robert Stephenson in July 1845 as one of four planned railways for the Shropshire Union. Stephenson surveyed the route from Worcester to Shrewsbury in 1846. A Bill was raised in Parliament the same year, but never enacted. Proposals for formation of a company to build railway appeared in July 1847, but no further action had been taken by 1848 after which time the Shropshire Union let the plan lapse. However Stephenson's plans were used by Robert Nicholson for what became the The Severn Valley Railway Company (19th Century).
  • Oxford and Worcester Extension and Chester Junction Railway: Advertised in September 1845 seeking capital of £2.25M. Planned as a broad gauge extension to the OWWOxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway's Oxford to Worcester route, the proposed extension from Worcester was described as "Passing up the Severn Vale, it reaches Stourport and proceeding thence through Kidderminster arrives at Bewdley. Leaving Stourbridge a little to the East, the line is taken to Bridgnorth. Passing through or near to Much Wenlock, Broseley and Madeley, from which there will be a branch to Shrewsbury, the line ascends Coalbrookdale and approaching in its course Wellington and Wem, enters Whitchurch. The trunk line will continue from Whitchurch and passing through or near Malpas, will have its northern terminus in the city of Chester.".[17] The proposal did not go ahead and shareholders in the Company voted to wind it up in November 1846.[18]
  • Cambrian and Grand Junction Railway: Advertised in September 1845 seeking capital of £2.2M. The prospectus began "This important line, the only one having for its object the direct communication between South Wales, Birmingham, the Midland counties, Liverpool, Manchester and the North, will commence at Hereford, and passing to the Vale of the Severn via Bewdley, Bridgnorth, Broseley, Iron Bridge and Coalbrook Dale, take a direct route through or near Wellington and Market Drayton to Crewe, or to Runcorn, whence the existing lines will continue the traffic to Liverpool, Manchester and the North. At Bewdley there will be a branch line through Kidderminster to Birmingham and the Midland Counties.".[19]
  • Shropshire Mineral Railway: Advertised in September 1845 seeking capital of £700,000. It was intended to form "...in conjunction with other existing and projected lines, a direct connection between Liverpool, Manchester Sheffield, York and Hull and Swansea and South Wales." The proposed Railway itself formed a connection between the Grand Junction Railway at Norton Bridge (near Stafford) and the Shrewsbury, Hereford and North Wales Railway at Wistanstow (north of Ludlow), Shropshire. From Oakengates the planned route southwards passed through "...Priors Lee, Stirchley, Dawley, Madeley and Ironbridge to Coalbrookdale, there crossing the proposed "Worcester and Crewe Railway"[note 1]".[20]
  • Direct London and Holyhead Railway: Advertised in October 1845 seeking capital of £2M, it proposed a direct route between London and Holyhead. The southern end of the route was described thus: "It will commence by a junction with the proposed Buckinghamshire Railway at Banbury, and will proceed by way of Kineton, Stratford and Bromsgrove to Kidderminster. From Kidderminster, passing near Bridgnorth, Madeley, Broseley and Wellington to Shrewsbury.".[21]
  • Dudley, Madeley, Broseley and Ironbridge Railway: Advertised in October 1845 seeking capital of £800,000. The prospectus began "This company has been formed for the purpose of constructing a direct line of railway from Dudley to Madeley, Broseley and Iron Bridge, at or near which place it is proposed to form a junction with the proposed Shrewsbury, Worcester and Crewe Union Railway[note 2]...".[22] In November 1845 the Company determined to extend their line to Wolverhampton and Stourbridge by a direct line through Kingswinford, noting this would provide a connection to Stourport "...in conjunction with the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway".[23]
  • Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway (often shortened to Stour Valley Railway and now known as the Stour Valley Line): The Company was authorised by an Act of Parliament in August 1846 and successfully built the line from Birmingham to Wolverhampton via Smethwick which opened in 1852 and is still in use today.[24]The 'Stour Valley' by which the line is known referred to a branch (proposed but never built) from Smethwick following the River Stour via Stourbridge and Kidderminster to its junction with the Severn at Stourport.[25]
  • Shrewsbury, Ironbridge and Bridgnorth Railway (known as Peele's Line, probably after Joshua John Peele, a prominent Bridgnorth Solicitor): Plans and sections for this proposed railway were deposited in November 1852. The Book of Reference noted it was "...to incorporate a Company for making Railways from the Shifnal and Madeley Branch of the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway to the towns of Ironbridge and Bridgnorth, and to Lightmoor; and to authorise working arrangement with other Companies.".[26] Robert Nicholson's original route for the SVRSevern Valley Railway, which passed to the east of the Apley Estate and towards Madeley was supported by the Estate's owner and local MP Thomas Whitmore. When the SVRSevern Valley Railway announced an alternative route to Shrewsbury via Linley in late 1852, Whitmore switched his support to the Shrewsbury, Ironbridge and Bridgnorth Railway instead.[27]
  • Wolverhampton & Bridgenorth (sic) Railway: Advertised in 1860 (the first of a number of proposed railways between Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth to be advertised). A plan for the route was drawn up although it did not include the engineer’s name. It would have run from the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway 3 miles west of Wolverhampton via Wergs, Pattingham and Worfield to join the SVRSevern Valley Railway (then still under construction) around 2 miles north of Bridgnorth. The proposal did not gain sufficient interest for a Bill to be presented to Parliament.[28]
  • South Staffordshire & Central Wales Railway Dudley & Bridgenorth (sic): Advertised in 1861. A plan and section were deposited, prepared by engineer Richard Taylor. The line would have run from the South Staffordshire Railway at Dudley, passing south of Himley and Claverley to join the SVRSevern Valley Railway (still under construction) a mile south of Bridgnorth.[29]

Proposals after the opening of the SVRSevern Valley Railway in 1862

After 1862, the following railways were proposed to form a junction with the SVRSevern Valley Railway

Railway First proposed Proposed route Other information
Stourbridge Railway, Valley of the Stour Extension 1866 An extension from the Stourbridge Town branch via Kinver and Wolverley, passing 2 miles north of Kidderminster and joining the SVRSevern Valley Railway north of Bewdley via a north-facing junction Rejected by Parliament in 1866.[30]
West Staffordshire Railway 1874 From the LNWRLondon & North Western Railway line south of Wolverhampton via Kingswinford, west of Stourbridge, Wolverley, west of Kidderminster to connect to the Tenbury and Bewdley Railway with a short branch to Bewdley. Backed by the LNWRLondon & North Western Railway as an alternative to the Kidderminster Loop Line. Rejected by Parliament in 1875.[31]
Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway 1912 An extension from Ditton Priors to Bridgnorth One of 3 possible extensions, none of which were taken up after the First World War.[32]

See also

The Severn Valley Railway under GWR/BR ownership

Notes

  1. Presumably referring to the Worcester, Shrewsbury and Crewe Union Railway.
  2. Presumably referring to the Worcester, Shrewsbury and Crewe Union Railway.

References

  1. Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway on Wikipedia
  2. Worcester Journal, 10 March 1836, via the British Newspaper Archive
  3. Worcester Journal, 31 December 1835, via the British Newspaper Archive
  4. Worcester Journal, 25 February 1836, via the British Newspaper Archive
  5. worcesterpeopleandplaces.org.uk
  6. The Railway Times for 1843, Vol 6, p. 1092.
  7. Worcester Herald, 21 September 1844, via the British Newspaper Archive
  8. Hereford Times, 22 February 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive
  9. London Evening Standard, 14 April 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive
  10. Worcester Herald, 9 November 1844, via the British Newspaper Archive
  11. London Evening Standard, 14 April 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive
  12. Worcester Journal, 1 May 1854, via the British Newspaper Archive
  13. The Cambrian, 21 November 1845, via National Library of Wales
  14. Gwent Archives
  15. Morning Chronicle, 18 April 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive
  16. Worcester Herald, 24 May 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive
  17. Shrewsbury Chronicle, 19 September 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive
  18. London Evening Standard, 30 November 1846, via the British Newspaper Archive
  19. Worcestershire Chronicle, 24 September 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive
  20. Worcestershire Chronicle, 17 September 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive
  21. Worcester Journal, 9 October 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive
  22. Aris's Birmingham Gazette, 6 October 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive
  23. Worcester Journal, 13 November 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive
  24. Stour Valley Line on Wikipedia
  25. Worcestershire Chronicle, 20 August 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive
  26. Shropshire History
  27. Marshall (1989) p. 23.
  28. Marshall (1989) p. 114.
  29. Marshall (1989) p. 115.
  30. Marshall (1989) p. 61.
  31. Marshall (1989) p. 81.
  32. Price (1995) pp.39-40.

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