Celebrating 200 years of train travel

 

Did you know that Purbeck had an “iron rail way” nearly 20 years before the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway?  The Middlebere Plateway was constructed in 1806 to move clay from Purbeck’s clay mines to Middlebere quay for transport by boat to the potteries of Britain.

During 2025, Purbeck Mining Museum will be telling the story of the narrow gauge tramways and plateways serving the clay industry in Purbeck, and their links to the UK’s national railway development.

Clay transportation before the railways

Although there is now little evidence of the ancient kilns that lie under today’s beautiful heathland, clay mining activities in the Purbecks predate Roman times.  But it was not until the late 1700s when the success of Wedgwood and other leading potteries prompted a significant surge in demand for fine white Purbeck ball clay.

As mining activities increased, the miners loaded the clay into baskets carried by mules or onto small carts hauled by horses for transfer to numerous quays on the banks of the River Frome and south side of Wareham Channel in Poole Harbour.  Here, the clay was loaded into barges and taken across to Poole where it was transferred into sailing vessels bound for Liverpool and London. Such time-consuming forms of transportation constrained the area’s ability to meet the ever-growing demand. There was a clear need for alternative and more efficient transport arrangements.

Pre-railway clay transportation by cart (Nigel Cox)

18th Century clay transportation to Poole (Barry Cobb)