More information : Spurn Point Military Railway.The railway on Spurn Point was constructed in 1915 when a means was required to easily transport material around the area. This was Particularly important with the construction of the defences around Spurn and the Sea Forts at Haile and Bull Sands. The roads around Spurn and Kilnsea were very poor, often narrow and winding,
and between the end of the point and Kilnsea there was no road at all. The railway was designed to connect Kilnsea with Spurn, this allowed supplies and materials to be brought by boat from Hull to Spurn, and by rail to Kilnsea. The railway was entirely seperate from the rest of the rail network; this brought problems with bringing rolling stock to Spurn.
The first section of the plans to be built was a pier at Spurn on which the line terminated; this allowed building materials to be carried from Hull straight onto the line by boat. Soon afterwards the railway was constructed, stretching from the battery at Kilnsea to Spurn, where it terminated on the jetty. The Railway was constructed by C.J. Wills and Son, a major contractor of the period who was responsible for the construction of many of the first world war defences of the area. It was a single track line of standard gauge, which had four passing places along its length. The rails used in the construction were generally second hand, and were often marked M.S.&L.R. (Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway) or G.C.R.(Great Central Railway).
The railway provided benefits beyond its initial usage, it was to provide Spurn with a much needed link with the outside world. This applied not just to the battery on the spit, but also to the small community of full time lifeboat men who lived and worked there. The railway ran official hourly services down the spit to Kilnsea and was used for the transport of personnel not only to Spurn fort, but also for shipment to Bull Sand and Haile Sand forts out in the estuary. The railway had many logistical problems, not least those of blown sand, and flooding in bad weather, a common cause of engine failure.
A number of different forms of transport used the railway, some quite bizarre. Initially, during the construction of the defences three identical Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0 locomotives were used by Wills, the `Lord Mayor', `Frances', and `Somerton'; `Lord Mayor' still survives on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. A fourth locomotive was used in the construction of the site, the 0-6-0 Class L engine `Bombay'. The locomotive which was permanently stationed at Spurn was the 0-6-0 `Kenyon', purchased by the War Department from C.J. Wills in 1916. `Kenyon' remained in service for some 13 years, but was allowed to deteriorate in condition over the final years of its life.
This is shown by photographs showing the removal of the side rods, the locomotive turning from an 0-6-0 to a 2-4-0 and finally a 2-2-2. Besides `Kenyon' conventional locomotives were restricted to a brief appearance by a LNER (London and North Eastern Railway) Y8 Locomotive in 1940. The spurn railway was characterised by the use of rather unusual forms of transport, the most bizarre being the converted `Ital' racing car, which was cobbled together and kept working by a number of strange amateur repairs for some 25 years. Besides this transport was provided by to petrol driven railcars, the unpopular and unreliable Hardy railcar, which often derailed at chalk bank, and the better Hudswell-Clarke railcar. The longest lived transport was the simple sail cart used by the lifeboatmen on the spit, this was a simple cart with a traditional sail rigging, unfortunately it also
had no brakes!.
Housing for the locomotives was provided by an engine shed within the Spurn fort, and the rails finished on the jetty to allow supplies to be transferred straight from the boats to the railway or vice-versa. The railway became of less importance during the second world war, when a road was built down the spit. The rails were finally removed in 1952, and the rolling stock was scrapped. (1)
The site was visited by the Fortress Studies Group in 1992. The FSG found the rails to mostly have been removed, apart from some set in concrete. The only surviving evidence for the railway beside this is the bank on which the track ran, now a public footpath. The FSG considered the site to be at risk from coastal erosion. Individual features such as the railway shed and station are handled seperately (see parent-child relationship). (2)
(TA 417 160-TA 3963 1085) Spurn & Kilnsea Railway. (3a)
The S extremity of the railway, from its S terminus to TA 405 115, was examined in the field in 1992 by RCHME, following the FSG survey, as a part of the Spurn Fort Survey. The rails have survived only where they cross the road along the spit and also at the approach to the engine shed (at TA4038 1131), of which the concrete floor can still be seen. The timberwork of the pier has gone, and all that remains is the stranded end, which had been renewed in reinforced concrete about 1936. (3)
The monument is also visible as upstanding structures and earthworks on air photographs examined as part of the Rapid Coastal Assessment Survey of the Yorkshire and Humber Estuary.
Military builidings of unknown function are visible flanking the railway at TA 4181 1579, 4185 1565 and TA 4206 1491. (4)
The railway on Spurn Point was constructed in 1915 to connect Kilnsea with Spurn. This allowed supplies and materials to be brought by boat from Hull to Spurn and by rail to Kilnsea. The railway was entirely seperate from the rest of the rail network. It was a single track line of standard gauge, which had four passing places along its length. The rails used in the construction were generally second hand, and were often marked M.S.& L.R. (Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway) or G.C.R.(Great Central Railway). The railway also supplied the small community of full time lifeboat men who lived and worked there and was used for the transport of personnel not only to Spurn fort, but also for shipment to Bull Sand and Haile Sand forts out in the estuary. The line was used by conventional rail locomotives as well as by roadcars, converted cars and a sail cart used by the lifeboatmen. Housing for the locomotives was provided by an engine shed within the Spurn fort, and the rails finished on a jetty to allow supplies to be transferred straight from the boats to the railway or vica-versa. The railway became of less importance during World War 2, when a road was built down the spit. The rails were finally removed in 1952, and the rolling stock was scrapped. In 1992, the FSG found the rails to have been mostly removed, apart from some set in concrete. The only surviving evidence for the railway beside this is the bank on which the track ran, now a public footpath. The site is at risk from coastal erosion. (5)
The carriage pulled by the Kenyon engine to spurn point through the First World War still survives today in Kilnsea as a home. (6) |