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In [[The Severn Valley Railway in preservation|early preservation days]] the works site was considered as a possible location for a Motive Power Depot. In the [[2007 Storm Damage#Repairs|2007 storms]] Knowlesands was the site of three sections of the railway that were washed out, in an area previously affected in November 2000. The industrial estate was an access point for the repair, which involved replacing the unstable ground with ‘reinforced earth’, new fill material sandwiched with geotextile mesh. ===Knowlesands Sidings ground frames===
Re-ordering
[[File: Knowlesands Sidings_OS.jpg|thumb|300px|right| Knowlesands (OS Map extract, 1937-1961 series)]]
Knowlesands Sidings were situated around ¾ mile south of [[Bridgnorth | Bridgnorth station]], midway between [[Knowlesands Tunnel]] and [[Oldbury Viaduct]]. They took the form of a loop to the west of the line, capable of holding 35 standard wagons plus engine and brake van.
==History==
The sidings served Knowlesands Brick Works (or Knowle Sands Brickworks), later the '''Bridgnorth brickworks''', which opened between 1891 and 1903 with two round kilns.<ref name=bricks>[https://www.brocross.com/Bricks/Penmorfa/Pages/england4b.htm Old Bricks - history at your feet website] (Retrieved 27 November 2022)</ref> The siding opened in 1922. The 1926 OS map shows a large rectangular kiln and a Hoffmann kiln. The works appear to have closed by the early 1950s.<ref name=bricks/>
The site of the works is now occupied by the Severn Valley Industrial Estate which can be seen from the railway, although no trace remains of the sidings.
Access to the sidings was controlled by ground frames at either end of the loop. These were unlocked by a key in the end of the Electric Train Staff. The working timetable of 1922 gave instructions that if the 8.15am [[Shrewsbury]] to Kidderminster goods was to stop at the sidings, the Bridgnorth signalman should telephone his colleague at [[Highley]], and vice versa for the 8.40am [[Hartlebury]] to Shrewsbury goods.
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===Historic maps of Knowlesands Sidings===
* 1884 map showing the location before the brickworks or sidings were built.
File:Knowlesands1927map.jpg | 1927
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==In preservation==
In [[The Severn Valley Railway in preservation|early preservation days]] the works site was considered as a possible location for a Motive Power Depot.
It has twice in preservation been the site of storm damage.
*On [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 2000-2009#2000|5 November 2000]] a stream at the top of [[Eardington Bank]] burst its banks, causing a major landslip in the section between the sidings location and Knowlesands Tunnel. Three lengths of track were left hanging in space and the embankment spread across the field below.
*In [[2007 Storm Damage#Repairs|2007]] three nearby sections of the railway were washed out. The industrial estate was an access point for the repair, which involved replacing the unstable ground with ‘reinforced earth’, new fill material sandwiched with geotextile mesh.
==See also==
