Monument Type(s):

• RAILWAY (Mid 19th century to 20th century (post-war) - 1866 AD to 1960 AD)

Summary

Railway of 19th to 20th century date. Started off as a mineral railway, the West Shropshire Mineral Railway, which merged with the Shrewsbury & Potteries Junction Railway, that together became the Potteries, Shrewsbury & North Wales Railway (aka the Potts).

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events: None recorded

Description

The Potts started off as a mineral railway, the West Shropshire Mineral Railway, which was planned to link the Llanymynech quarries with the Shrewsbury & Welshpool line [PRN 08450] near Westbury. The main promoter was Richard France, who had been the contractor on the SWR. He had greater ambitions for the line and persuaded the directors to upgrade the scheme to a passenger railway, to be called the Shrewsbury & North Wales Railway and to join the SWR nearer Shrewsbury, at Redhill. The plan was that the line would share the joint General Station with the other companies operating into Shrewsbury. ->

-> By 1864 the double track Llanymynech line was virtually ready and the Red Hill junction complete. However, the company could not secure access to the main Shrewsbury Railway Station as planned. It merged with another small railway, the Shrewsbury & Potteries Junction Railway (also being built by France), which was planned to run between Shrewsbury and Stoke, and was having similar access problems at Shrewsbury. Together they became the Potteries, Shrewsbury & North Wales Railway (aka the Potts), which built its own loop line leading to a terminus opposite Shrewsbury Abbey. The Shrewsbury to Llanymynech section opened in 1866, though at this point the eastward line towards Stoke had hardly been started. The company ran into financial difficulties in that year and the line temporarily closed. It reopened in 1868, as a single line track, and even opened branch lines in the early 1870s [PRN 08456, 08457]. However, its finances were always precarious; the Receiver was called in in 1877 and the line closed in 1880, although a skeleton staff was kept on to try to maintain the line's condition (with only limited success). ->

-> In 1887 a new company, the Shropshire Railways Company, was set up, with the idea of reopening the line and extending it to link with the Great Western main line at Hodnet. The scheme was authorised by Parliament in 1888 and work started on rebuilding the existing line in 1890. This was nearly ready in 1891, but again the money ran out before the line could be properly reopened or extended. ->

-> After the Light Railways Act of 1896, when the Potts became an obvious candidate for reopening, the directors of the Shropshire Railways Company were initially obstructive. It was not until some years later that the new Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Light Railway was able to lease the line from the Shropshire Railways Company. It received its Light Railway Order in 1909, based itself at Kinnerley, and started refurbishing the line and stations. The line reopened in 1911. ->

-> The company remained independent during the mass merger of railway companies in the early 1920s, probably because none of the big companies wanted it. The line was losing money by this time. Passenger trains did not cease until 1933, however, and goods traffic still continued after that. By the time of the outbreak of World War 2, the company was intending to close the line between Kinnerley and Shrewsbury and take all the Criggion quarry traffic to Llanymynech. Instead the line was placed under the control of the Royal Engineers in 1941. Nearly 200 ammunition stores were built along it, linked by short spur sidings and rail loops which also served other military sites including barracks, and new sidings and marshalling yards were built at Red Hill and Ford. Civilian goods traffic continued to be allowed during this period. ->

-> After the war, the Shropshire Railways Company was wound up and the Shropshire & Montgomeryshire included in nationalisation. The line remained in the hands of the War Department, which gradually ran it down as the depots closed. The line was offered to British Rail in 1960, but was judged unlikely to be profitable. It was closed down and most of its track dismantled. In its 94 years of existence the Potts had been closed for 33 years, and carried passengers for only 34! <1>

Sections photographed during aerial survey in 2009. <2>

<01> Morriss Richard K, 1991, Railways of Shropshire, p32-33,44-45,49,53-54,56 (Monograph). SSA20232.

<02> Shropshire Council, 2009-Mar-29, SA0907_221 to SA0907_222 (2 photos) Flight: 09_SA_07 (Oblique aerial photograph). SSA25648.

<03> Tonks E S, 1972, The Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Railway (Manuscript). SSA24082.

Sources

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