Within the strong rooms of the Dorset History Centre are a collection of extremely popular and highly used documents. It may come as a surprise to some that these documents are plans of railway undertakings. Whilst they don’t have the immediate visual appeal of an illuminated manuscript or estate map, the information they provide can be most enlightening.
This example page comes from QDP(M): R3/29, dated 1846, and depicts the proposed line at Spetisbury. The path of the railway is shown as a single black line, and the plan includes approximately 400 yards of detailed landscape either side of the line. Roads, rivers, buildings and ancient landmarks are all accurately plotted. Fields and parcels of land are numbered, and an accompanying Book of Reference provides details of owners and occupants. Also included is a cross section of the land, showing the vertical plane through which the railway will pass.
As working documents, many of the plans are in a very poor condition. Stored in a rolled format since their production, the plans are difficult to access without causing them physical damage. Most have multiple tears due to poor handling. The paper from which many are made is poor quality and fragile, and some rolls are actively deteriorating; predominantly those made from transparent paper. This has meant access to some of the plans has been restricted.
A generous donation to DHC is allowing the conservation and repackaging of the 132 railway plans, to preserve them for future generations and to allow access for research purposes.
Over the next few months, railway expert Colin Divall will highlight some of the fascinating insights the plans can provide, our Conservator, Jenny Barnard, will describe the conservation challenges involved in this project, and conservation volunteer Clare Collins will discuss the highs and lows of preserving this fascinating collection.
How much did it cost to get rid of the Portland railway?
Thank-you for your comment. We hold various sources relating to Portland railway in our collections which would give some answers to your question, including accounts, letters to shareholders, and various other information. You can have a look at our online catalogue, and in particular D-PRC, which is the Portland Railway collection.
Do you have any details about West Moors to Salisbury railway line?
My Husbands Grandfather was the signal man at Fordingbridge and I travel on his line on a runabout ticket for holidays in the Fifties .
Thank-you for your interest. We don’t have a lot of material relating to this line, but you might want to visit DHC to look at D-STW/A/10/1/1-2, which are files of correspondence about the building of a station at West Moors in the 1860s. There may be material in other collections relating to different railways, so please have a browse of our online catalogue! There are also a lot of the books which are being conserved which reference Salisbury, so these might have some information when they are fully conserved!
Delighted to hear that this important work is being undertaken. The development of the railway network during the 19th and 20th centuries is an important aspect of our industrial archaeology, gives a glimpse into the entrepreneurial culture of the time and provides a fascinating insight into the impact of the railways on our social history.
Thank-you for your interest! We will be publishing more blogs on this work in the coming months, so keep your eyes peeled!
I am always excited about railways and everything about them and as I have aged, I have come to appreciate more and more how much railways have meant to our heritage. Thankyou to all those involved in the work
Thank-you for your comment. Railways and their stories tell us a lot about the industrial development of Britain, so the records are invaluable to historians!
Looking forward to seeing and learning what is revealed.
We will be publishing new blogs about the work of our Conservator, with information from Colin Divall, so watch this space!
These ought to be copied and published in book form – they look fascinating to railway buffs!
They are fascinating records! They are quite large volumes to publish, but they will be available to consult in our search-room in the not-to-distant future!
My wife’s ancestor’s on GSWR and were mainly based in the Weymouth area, I wonder if the Archives contain details or lists of people employed on the building of Swanage line
Thank-you for your comment. Whilst we hold various records relating to the Swanage railway line, we don’t obviously hold lists of labourers who worked on the line. You might want to search our catalogue for Swanage Railway to get an idea of what we hold!
Very interested to see your ‘early railway’ project. As a railway enthusiast and resident of Cerne Abbas I did some research a few years ago on the 1836 proposal for the Bath & Weymouth Great Western Union Railway which would have come down the Cerne Valley. An amazing amount of information still exists, but I had to go to the Somerset and Wiltshire Record Offices as well as Dorset to get the full picture. It is interesting to speculate as to what might have happened had this early scheme proceeded (instead of the later route through Maiden Newton). I can make any records I have of the B & W G W U Railway available to you if this would be of interest.
Regards, Gordon
Hi Gordon, glad the project is of interest! Watch this space for more from the team as work progresses. With regards to your records, we would potentially be interested in any original material you might hold, although from what you seem to suggest, this is ‘secondary’ research, rather than original records? If you would like to send us an email – archives@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk – we can advise further.
Yes, I do not have any original material. It took visits to Salisbury, Trowbridge and Taunton as well as Dorchester to winkle out a lot of
available information on the route through Dorset, including lists of investors, landowners, longitudinal sections and architectural drawings. I put much of this on record in the Dec. 1998/Jan. 1999 issue of the Dorset Country Magazine. As we know, the arrival of a railway would raise the prosperity of any community, whereas the absence of a railway saw the 19th century decline of Cerne Abbas.