The Wellington to Craven Arms Railway was formed by a group of railway companies that eventually joined the Great Western Railway family, and connected Wellington, Shropshire and Shifnal, with Coalbrookdale, Buildwas, Much Wenlock and a junction near Craven Arms. Its objectives were dominated by the iron, colliery and limestone industries around Coalbrookdale.
The route sections that together formed the network were
the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway Coalbrookdale branch from Madeley Junction (near Shifnal) to Lightmoor; the Wellington and Severn Junction Railway from Ketley Junction (near Wellington) to Lightmoor; the Great Western Railway Coalbrookdale extension from Lightmoor to Coalbrookdale; the Wenlock Railway from Coalbrookdale to Buildwas; the Much Wenlock and Severn Junction Railway from Buildwas to Much Wenlock; the Wenlock Railway from Much Wenlock to Marsh Farm Junction, north of Craven Arms.
The railways were opened in the period from 1854 to 1867. The railways local to Coalbrookdale were heavily used by mineral traffic; the hoped-for trunk hauls to and from South Wales via Craven Arms were not realised. Passenger traffic was never heavy, and was sparse between Much Wenlock and Craven Arms. Passenger traffic closures took place from 1951 and ordinary goods traffic closed down in the 1960s. Ironbridge B Power Station generated significant volumes of merry-go-round coal traffic between 1967 and 2015. The line is now entirely closed to ordinary traffic, but the heritage Telford Steam Railway operates on a section near Doseley.
Background From the early medieval period, Coalbrookdale was a centre of extraction of coal. The River Severn provided the route for transport to market, and pack horses on primitive roads were also used. As the early part of the Industrial Revolution took place, there was a demand for limestone, a key ingredient of the iron making process, and the iron itself had to be transported away. Wooden railways and plateways had long been used to get access to the river, but the steep-sided valley through which the river ran, and the hilly terrain in general, discouraged canal building, and for a time limited railway access too.
There was considerable industry in the steep-sided valley of the river Severn around Coalbrookdale. From 1709 Abraham Darby the elder established an iron foundry there, leading to a massive increase in technological and industrial output, and the formation later of the Coalbrookdale Company. Transport of raw materials and finished products was difficult, and heavy use was made of the River Severn.John M. Tolson, In the Tracks of the Iron Masters, Railway Magazine, July and August 1964Ken Jones, The Wenlock Branch: Wellington to Craven Arms, Oakwood Press, Usk, 1998, , pages 11, 13 and 21
Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway
When the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway planned its line, it was projected to run through Wellington, to the north of Coalbrookdale, avoiding the difficult terrain of the Severn Valley. It was authorised by the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. cccvii) on 3 August 1846,Donald J Grant, Directory of the Railway Companies of Great Britain, Matador Publishers, Kibworth Beauchamp, 2017, , page 502 and the authorisation included a mile branch to Coalbrookdale.Ernest F Carter, An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles, Cassell, London, 1959, page 119 Construction proceeded and the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway opened its main line in 1849. Many manufacturers transferred their transport to the railway, reaching the industrial districts in the north west of England more conveniently.
The authorised branch line to Coalbrookdale was from near Ketley, a mile east of Wellington. In the 1847 and 1849 sessions of Parliament the S&BR obtained acts of Parliament, the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway (Amendment and Branches) Act 1847 (10 & 11 Vict. c. lxxx) and the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway Amendment Act 1849 (12 & 13 Vict. c. lxxxv) for a branch line to Madeley from a triangular junction near Shifnal, and an extension from Coalbrookdale to Ironbridge.Henry Tuck, The Railway Shareholder's Manual, published by Effingham Wilson, London, 1848, page 263
Not all of these branches were made. However the Madeley branch was built, and opened in November 1854Jones; Tolson says 1 June. as far as Madeley Court from near Shifnal at what became Madeley Junction. It was extended on 1 October 1855 to Lightmoor, which was a major centre of the metal industry.The branch is often referred to as the Madeley Branch, but also the GWR Lightmoor Branch. Madeley Junction was the eastern junction of what was to have been the triangular junction, which was never completed in that form.Jones, page 38Jones, page 64
Wellington and Lightmoor
John Dickson of the Shropshire Works, Wellington, had furnaces at Ketley, a mile or so south of Wellington, and in February 1851 he had opened a short private line from Waterloo Sidings, at Wellington, to Ketley.
In October 1852 the Coalbrookdale Company discussed extending Dickson's line to Coalbrookdale, but the cost was considered unaffordable, and a public company was promoted instead: it was to be called the Wellington and Severn Junction Railway. Despite opposition from other railway companies, royal assent was given to the (16 & 17 Vict. c. ccxiv) on 20 August 1853. The S&BR gave technical assistance and some financial help. The cost of building the line was estimated at £60,000.Jones, pages 33 and 37 to 39Carter, page 246Grant, page 591
Acquisition of land proved easier than elsewhere, suggesting that landowners saw the railway as an aid to their business interests. The construction focussed on the easier part of the line, but even so progress was slow. A demonstration run on the line from Ketley to Horsehay for shareholders took place on 21 February 1857, and it appears that goods and mineral traffic operated on this section from that time.Jones, pages 40 and 41. Oppitz page 66 says 14 May 1857.Jones, pages 40 and 41Leslie Oppitz, Shropshire and Staffordshire Railways Remembered, Countryside Books, Newbury, 1993, , page 66 It opened fully on 1 May 1858.MacDermot says 1 June 1854.Morriss says 1 May 1857, pageRichard K Morriss, Railways of Shropshire: A Brief History, Shropshire Libraries, Shrewsbury, 1983, , page 34E T MacDermot, History of the Great Western Railway, published by the Great Western Railway, London, 1927, volume 1, page 864
At a shareholders' meeting on 25 March 1858, it was reported that the line was nearly completed into Lightmoor. A junction was to be formed there with the Madeley and Lightmoor branch of the Great Western Railway.The Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway had been absorbed by the GWR in 1854. However the Wellington and Severn Junction Railway could not raise enough money to build on from Lightmoor to Coalbrookdale, and the company decided to leave the completion in abeyance.
The section from Ketley to Horsehay was inspected by Captain Tyler for the Board of Trade on 3 March 1859, but he was scathing about the deficiencies and he declined to approve the line for passenger traffic. A second visit by Captain Ross also disclosed unacceptable features. Hasty rectification was made, and the line was opened for passenger traffic, in fact all the way to Lightmoor, on 2 May 1859. Lightmoor was not a passenger destination in itself, being a centre of the iron industry, so in collaboration with the GWR, the passenger service ran from Wellington to Lightmoor Junction, reversing there, and then on to Shifnal via Madeley over the GWR (former S&BR) branch line.
Some shareholders expressed dissatisfaction that their railway terminated at Lightmoor, but the directors were adamant in declining to undertake to complete the line to Coalbrookdale; there was no possibility at the time of raising the necessary money to do so.Jones, pages 43 and 44
The line was worked by the Coalbrookdale Company until 1 July 1861. After that it was leased to the West Midland Railway and the Great Western Railway jointly; the lease was ratified by the (24 & 25 Vict. c. ccxii) of 1 August 1861. Following an agreement with the West Midland Railway the Wellington and Severn Junction Railway was operated by them. The WMR amalgamated with the GWR on 1 August 1863, keeping the name Great Western Railway, and the GWR then took over the working arrangement.Jones, pages 45, 47 and 48Morriss, page 35
The Much Wenlock and Severn Junction Railway
Interested parties in Much Wenlock also saw the potential of linking their town to the growing railway network. The Severn Valley Railway was authorised on 20 August 1853Grant, page 496 and when built would bring a railway line to Buildwas, four miles away. A meeting held in September 1853 was supportive, but it took some years to prepare a definite scheme: it went to Parliament, and on 21 July 1859 royal assent was given to the Much Wenlock and Severn Junction Railway Act 1859 (22 & 23 Vict. c. xxvi) it authorised a railway from Much Wenlock to join the Severn Valley Railway (then under construction) at Buildwas; authorised capital was £24,000.Grant, pages 389 and 390Carter, page 304
The appointed contractors were Brassey and Field, and construction began in March 1860. A Board of Trade inspection of the line was carried out by Colonel William Yolland on 31 December 1861. He required a number of changes, but these were swiftly made, and on 30 January 1862 he made a second visit, this time agreeing to the opening.
The line between Much Wenlock and Buildwas was opened on 1 February 1862 for passenger and goods traffic; the opening day was the same day as the opening of the Severn Valley Railway between Shrewsbury and Hartlebury. The Severn Valley Railway was leased from the outset by the GWR.Rex Christiansen, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 13: Thames and Severn, David and Charles (Publishers) Limited, Newton Abbot, 1981, , page 112 The Severn Valley Railway's undertaking had been leased to the West Midland Railway from 1 July 1860.Jones, page 57MacDermot, page 551
There were three daily trains from Much Wenlock to Shrewsbury, via the Severn Valley Railway, and four in the opposite direction.
Wenlock Railway The 1859 authorisation of the Wenlock and Severn Junction Railway encouraged more ambitious thoughts, and led to preparation of the Much Wenlock, Craven Arms and Coalbrookdale Railway. Coalbrookdale and its iron industries were only two miles from the line at Buildwas. At the same time the collieries and iron industries of South Wales beckoned. Coal of different qualities was required for mixing as the iron production processes became more sophisticated. A line to Craven Arms would connect with the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway and through it, the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway, enabling the desired South Wales to Coalbrookdale connection.
The project was successful in Parliament and obtained its authorising act of Parliament, the (24 & 25 Vict. c. clxxxix) on 22 July 1861 under the title, the 'Wenlock Railway'. It was to build a short extension line from the Severn Valley Railway at Buildwas up to Coalbrookdale, and a much longer line from Much Wenlock towards Craven Arms, making a junction with the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway at Marsh Farm, three miles north of Craven Arms.Jones, pages 54, 55, 57 and 252Grant, pages 390, 593 and 594Carter, page 323 Capital was £125,000. Brassey and Field were appointed contractors for the construction of both, having tendered £81,000 for the line between Much Wenlock and Craven Arms and £28,000 for the Coalbrookdale extension, excluding land, stations, sidings and signalling in each case.
Wenlock Railway: Buildwas to Coalbrookdale