[[File: Jackfield-Halt-1962-10-08.jpg|thumb|300px|right| The relocated Jackfield Halt in 1962. From the [[Sellick Collection]].]]
[[File: Jackfield_Board_20161130.jpg|thumb|300px|right| Board from Jackfield Halt]]
{| class="wikitable"
|+Next stations pre-closure
|-
! Towards [[Hartlebury]] and [[Kidderminster]] !! Towards [[Shrewsbury]]
|-
| [[Coalport]] || [[Ironbridge and Broseley | Ironbridge]]
|-
|}
Jackfield, on the banks of the River Severn, was particularly noted for pottery and tile making. It also served as a riverside port for nearby [[Ironbridge and Broseley | Broseley]], which was situated high above the river. Today the Jackfield Tile Museum is one of the ten museums of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.
==Jackfield Halt was ==Jackfield Halt opened on 3 December 1934, one of a number of halts opened in 1934 around that time in a bid to attract more local custom to the line. It consisted of a simple wooden platform with a small wooden shelter, and was situated to the west (north in the direction of travel) of the nearby sidings of the [[Maw and Co's Siding | Maw & Company]] tile works (now the site of the Maws Craft Centre). The location, approximately mid-way between [[Coalport]] and [[Ironbridge and Broseley | Ironbridge]], was adjacent to the distant signal which protected the level crossing at [[Jackfield sidings|Jackfield sidings South ground frame]] (next to the former Craven Dunnill factory, now the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust's Jackfield Tile Museum). The road though the level crossing served the area of the nearby village known as Salthouses which lay between the halt and the River Severn..<ref name = "Stretton">[[Bibliography#Books | Stretton (2010), p. 97.]]</ref>
When opened, <gallery mode=packed heights=400px style="text-align:left">OS_Jackfield_Halt.jpg|OS Map extract showing the halt was north old and new locations of the nearby sidings of Halt relative to the [[Maw and Co's Siding . factory ("Benthall Encaustic Tile Works") </gallery> The original halt was situated on the Doughty Fault<ref>[[Bibliography#Books | Maw & CompanyVanns (1998)]] tile worksp.46.</ref> on an area of unstable ground, made worse by the history of clay mining in the area. However due In 1882, Maw & Co undertook to sink several old boiler shells vertically into the ground and fill them with concrete in an attempt to unstable stabilise the ground. However the problems continued over the years, culminating in a major landslide in spring 1952 when the line and halt slumped 25ft towards the river; many houses in the Salthouses area were also destroyed. Following this, the halt was platform and shelter were relocated by around ¼ mile to a position south east of the sidings (south in the direction of travel), re-opening on 1 March 1954.<ref name = "Marshall">[[Bibliography#Books | Marshall (1989), p. 109.]]</ref> Thereafter the area remained subject to further subsidence, requiring regular re-alignment and re-ballasting of the line which was subject to a 5 m.p.h. restriction.<ref name = "Stretton" /> The halt remained in use until the closure of the line to passengers on 9 September 1963. The former destination board is now preserved in the nearby Jackfield Tile Museum. ==History of the area since closure==Ongoing subsidence later resulted in the adjacent road being closed, with traffic being diverted along a new road laid on the former track bed. This road was in turn subject to further collapse, two chains of wooden slats were later incorporated into it.<ref name = "Marshall" /> <gallery>File:The_lane_to_Jackfield_-_geograph.org.uk_-_724227.jpg | The road on the former trackbed in 2008 (Wikimedia Commons)</gallery> In 2013 Telford & Wrekin Council began a three year project for a stabilisation scheme at Jackfield, for which the main works were completed in October 2016.<ref>[http://www.telford.gov.uk/jackfieldstabilisationproject Telford and Wrekin Council]</ref> The picture below shows part of the rebuilt area in November 2016. The work included the construction of a new road seen beyond the fence to the left. The path on the right forms part of National Cycle Route 45, which follows the former Severn Valley Railway trackbed between Ironbridge and Coalport. A short section of the chain of wooden slats has been retained for display purposes and a [[GWR boundary markers|GWR boundary marker]] has been re-erected nearby. The first Jackfield Halt was situated near the trees in the distance. <gallery>File:Jackfield 20161130.jpg | View of the Jackfield area in 2016 following stabilisationFile:Boundary marker Jackfield Halt 20180624.jpg | A [[GWR boundary markers|GWR boundary marker]] re-erected near the site of the first Halt</gallery> ==See also==*[[The Severn Valley Railway under GWR/BR ownership# Map of the Route and Nearby Railways | The Severn Valley Railway under GWR/BR ownership]]*[[Maps#Schematic maps of the pre-closure SVR | Pre-1963 map]]*[[Shropshire Historic Environment Record]]
==References==
Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith (2007), ''Country Railway Routes, Kidderminster to Shrewsbury''<references /> ==Links==[http://www.britishpathe.com/search/query/jackfield Viewable British Pathe Newsreels of the 1952 landslide ]<br>[http://www.mawscraftcentre.co.uk/ Maws Craft Centre website]
==See also=={{StationNavbox}}[[httpCategory://www.svrwiki.com/Maps#Schematic_maps_of_the_pre-closure_SVR | Pre-1963 mapFeatured articles]]
