Monument record MWX67 - The Portland Railway, Portland

The Portland (or Merchants) Railway. Receiving Royal Assent on June 10th 1825 (6 Geo Cap 121), and completed in 1826, at a cost of £5869, the Portland Railway was Dorset's earliest. It ran a distance of 2 miles and 4 chains from the Priory Lands (SY 6853 7285) to Castletown Pier (SY 6872 7445). Of 4ft 6ins gauge, it was principally used to transport stone from the Tout, King Barrow and Waycroft Quarries to which it was connected by a system of tramways. It utilised an incline to the north west of the later Verne Fort. The last train ran in 1939. [See Illustration card] (2,3)

Act 1825, 4ft 6in gauge. Horses drew trains of loaded wagons around the contour from Priory Corner to the top of the incline for descent to Castletown Pier. There was a higher branch below the Verne. Many tramways branched into Waycroft, King Barrow, Tout, Inmosthay quarries. Shown as a ‘Rail Road’ on 1828 and 1841 maps (4-5). An 1861 plan (6) shows upper branches of Portland Railway including incline and East Drum, and Cottage & Stable (removed 1866 for fort). Many branches by 1863 (7) and reached greatest extent c1889 (8).

Reduced to single track to Priory Corner, qhich had short sidings and a crane, by 1927. (9) Closed 1939 and rails lifted in 1956. (10) Traces of stone sleeper blocks survive along the courses and incline. Other features include massive stones bordering the line, and a curved stone-walled cutting at Tillycombe. (11) Site of Priory Corner terminus destroyed by road works in 1996. (12)

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1903 (Map). SWX1540.

Portland Railway [NAT]

<2> 1933, Notes and queries for Somerset and Dorset: Vol 21, p183 (Article in serial). SWX1149.

<3> St John Thomas, D, 1966, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: The West Country, p147 (Monograph). SWX1139.

<4> Wyld, J, 1828, Plan of the Island of Portland in the County of Dorset (Map). SDO10236.

<5> 1841, Portland Tithe Map (Map). SDO10253.

<6> 1861, Plan of Lands in the Isle of Portland Dorsetshire, to be purchased by …the War Dept (Map). SDO10249.

<7> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch one (Map). SDO10239.

<8> Ordnance Survey, 1889, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, sheet LVIII.11 (Map). SDO10250.

<9> Ordnance Survey, 1929, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, sheet LVIII.11 (Map). SDO10242.

<10> Jackson, B L, 1999, Isle of Portland Railways, vol. 1. The Admiralty and Quarry Railways, pp15-61 (Monograph). SDO10248.

<11> Stanier, P, 2007, Field observation (Verbal communication). SDO10278.

<12> Morris, S, 2006, Portland Then and Now, pp63-65 (Monograph). SDO10291.

<13> National Record of the Historic Environment, 868120 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 10 2025 10:09AM