Knowlesands Sidings

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Knowlesands (OSOrdnance Survey Map extract, 1937-1961 series)

Knowlesands Sidings were situated around ¾ mile south of 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.

The sidings served Knowlesands Brick Works (or Knowle Sands Brickworks), later the Bridgnorth brickworks, which opened between 1891 and 1903 with two round kilns.[1] The siding opened in 1922. The 1926 OSOrdnance Survey map shows a large rectangular kiln and a Hoffmann kiln. The works appear to have closed by the early 1950s.[1]

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.

In early preservation days the works site was considered as a possible location for a Motive Power Depot.

In the 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

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.

A name plate from Knowlesands North ground frame is on display in Kidderminster Railway Museum.

Historic maps of Knowlesands Sidings

  • 1884 map showing the location before the brickworks or sidings were built.
  • 1903 map showing 'Knowlesands Brick Works' unconnected to the railway.
  • 1927 map showing 'Bridgnorth Brick Works' and the sidings.

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Old Bricks - history at your feet website (Retrieved 27 November 2022)

Mitchell and Smith (2007), Illustration XII
Vanns (1998), p57