| HER Number (PRN): | 08456 |
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| Name: | The Potts Railway (Criggion Branch) |
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| Type of Record: | Monument |
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Protected Status: | None recorded |
Monument Type(s):
- MINERAL RAILWAY (Opened, Mid 19th century - 1866 AD? to 1866 AD)
- RAILWAY (Opened, Mid 19th century - 1870 AD to 1870 AD)
Summary
A branch of the struggling Potts Railway, originally a mineral line, which was opened to passenger traffic in 1870.
| Parish: | Kinnerley, Oswestry, Shropshire |
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| Melverley, Oswestry, Shropshire |
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| Map Sheet: | SJ31NW |
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| Grid Reference: | SJ 3315 1770 |
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Related records
| 32917 | Parent of: Site of Chapel Lane Halt (The Potts Railway - Criggion Branch) (Monument) |
| 08453 | Part of: Potteries, Shrewsbury & North Wales Railway (the Potts Railway) (Monument) |
| 32880 | Related to: Site of Melverley Railway Station (The Potts Railway - Criggion Branch) (Monument) |
Associated Finds: None recorded
Associated Events
- ESA8049 - [Undated] Parish survey of Melverley by Anette Roe
Description
A branch of the struggling Potts Railway [PRN 08453], originally a mineral line, which was opened to passenger traffic in 1870. The Potts closed in 1880, though a skeleton staff was kept on to maintain the condition of the line. There was a failed attempt to revive the main Potts line in 1887-1891, and then a further hiatus until the Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Light Railway refurbished both the main line and the Criggion Branch. The branch reopened as a light railway in 1912. When the company ran into financial trouble again in the early 1920s, passenger traffic ceased (1932), though goods traffic still continued after that <1>
In 1863, a 6 mile branch of the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway was proposed, to run from Kinnerley to the granite quarries at Criggion. The work was completed in 1866, although the line only carried goods traffic until 1871…In 1880, no repairs having been undertaken, service was suspended because the line was deemed unsafe. In 1909, £8000 was spent on the Criggion line…The repaired line was opened to the public in August 1912. Yet again lack of repairs caused the branch to decline and from September 1928, trains only ran on Saturdays…In 1933, passenger services were withdrawn for good, although there were still daily trains transporting granite. The branch finally closed in December 1959 and the track was dismantled. <3>
<01> Morriss Richard K, 1991, Railways of Shropshire, p36,45,49 (Monograph). SSA20232.
<02> Tonks E S, 1972, The Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Railway (Manuscript). SSA24082.
<03> Roe Annette, Melverley Parish: an Archaeological Survey, Appendix B (Historic landscape survey report). SSA20942.
Sources
| [01] | SSA20232 - Monograph: Morriss Richard K. 1991. Railways of Shropshire. p36,45,49. |
| [02] | SSA24082 - Manuscript: Tonks E S. 1972. The Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Railway. |
| [03] | SSA20942 - Historic landscape survey report: Roe Annette. Melverley Parish: an Archaeological Survey. Appendix B. |
| Date Last Edited: | Dec 14 2016 4:07PM |
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