The Somerton, Keinton Mandeville, Castle Cary and Evercreech Tramways

AJC

AJC

Western Thunderer
I came across this unlikely scheme while doing some cross referencing in the day job, working for the Victoria History of the Counties of England (known to most as the 'VCH'). Now the idea of that outfit is to produce a parish by parish history of England from the beginning of human habitation to the ever-moving present. Back in 1898 this was thought to be something that could be quick, simple, encyclopaedic and commercial. The more alert of you might have noticed that it is now 2015 and, er... well, it makes the gestation of our little empires pale into insignificance.

Anyhow, the tramway scheme is mentioned in the volume for Castle Cary (Somerset volume 10) which bounds the territory of volume 11 (Queen Camel and the Cadburys, due out in May) and although it never got beyond the act of parliament granted in 1891, it is outlined in some detail in the London Gazette, the archive of which is available, free, online. The relevant pages are here:

Page 6293 | Issue 26226, 24 November 1891 | London Gazette | The Gazette

The scheme seems to have been for a standard gauge roadside tramway carrying agricultural produce and other sundries between Somerton, Keinton Mandville, Castle Cary and Evercreech. The account given in the London Gazette appears to show several schemes, but in fact these are simply divisions of the same scheme divided by parish boundaries. The system started on the eastern edge of Somerton, proceeding along what is now the B 3153, crossing the A 37 at Lydford, the GWR at Castle Cary and thereupon proceeding north to the S&DJR at Evercreech Junction. All this and a branch(!) from Kingweston to - and with @Simon's Pomparle's Siding scheme in mind - Butleigh.

Google Maps

Obviously, this never went anywhere, but it seems an interesting sort of a thing in the spirit of the Wantage or Wisbech and Upwell tramways. Now had it been built, I imagine it would have made connections with the GWR at Castle Cary as well and might just have made it through the First World War, struggled as far as the second and, in all likelihood, been wound up shortly afterwards.

Given the number of unlikely schemes associated with the S&DJR over the years that have appeared in model form I can't help but think that there's a layout in all of this somewhere... Any takers?

Adam
 
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AJC

AJC

Western Thunderer
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Yorkshire Dave

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
Interesting - as observed the mapping suggests part of the tramway at Keinton Mandeville and between Lovington and East Lydford.

Judging by the spot heights it would have been quite hard work for the horses working the tramway with loaded and empty wagons. Following the road through Alford the line would have dropped from 135' at Castle Cary to 75' in 3 miles followed by a steady climb of 2.5 miles to Keinton Mandeville at 189'. The biggest challenge would have been the final push to Hurcot and Somerton over Windmill Hill at 225' then a sharp descent of around 175' in half a mile towards Wellham Farm and Hurcot.

It would make an interesting model with early light railway motive power.

Whilst studying the map I notice there is a rifle range and camp at Hurcot. Would have this been a military camp? If so then another excuse for the trains.

Thanks for posting the link to the old map as I always find it fascinating studying these. There's so much to read and so many stories contained within. And I scooted up north on the map to check out my local area in the Pennines.
 
AJC

AJC

Western Thunderer
Yorkshire Dave said:
Interesting - as observed the mapping suggests part of the tramway at Keinton Mandeville and between Lovington and East Lydford.

Judging by the spot heights it would have been quite hard work for the horses working the tramway with loaded and empty wagons. Following the road through Alford the line would have dropped from 135' at Castle Cary to 75' in 3 miles followed by a steady climb of 2.5 miles to Keinton Mandeville at 189'. The biggest challenge would have been the final push to Hurcot and Somerton over Windmill Hill at 225' then a sharp descent of around 175' in half a mile towards Wellham Farm and Hurcot.
Click to expand...

I'm reasonably familiar with the roads round there and you're right in saying it would have been a challenge for horsepower; I can only assume that locomotive working may have been intended. Interestingly, having dug out my copy of the relevant handbook of the Industrial Railway Society (H), I've found that the tramway isn't mentioned at all - nor does it appear in the collection of updates my copy came with.

Yorkshire Dave said:
Whilst studying the map I notice there is a rifle range and camp at Hurcot. Would have this been a military camp? If so then another excuse for the trains.

Thanks for posting the link to the old map as I always find it fascinating studying these. There's so much to read and so many stories contained within. And I scooted up north on the map to check out my local area in the Pennines.
Click to expand...

I assume the rifle range must have been military (or possibly for sport? Not a lot is known, it seems: Somerset HER). The account published by the day job doesn't mention it (though this isn't the place to comment on what I think of the Somerset series of VCH, if it covered a possibly unbuilt tramway it really should have mentioned the rifle range, of only in passing)*. Details of the rifle range is more apparent if you look at the later 25" to the mile map:

Explore georeferenced maps - Map images - National Library of Scotland

The 'Camp' I suspect actually refers to the 'earthworks' shown in detail on the later map: Explore georeferenced maps - Map images - National Library of Scotland which, so the county HER reckons might either be a Civil War earthwork (Somerset HER) or a Deserted Medieval Village (Somerset HER).

Adam

* The upcoming volume on Dunster and Minehead is much better in this respect: Butlin's monorail and the West Somerset included (naturally) and Minehead's archery butts. Nothing if not wide-ranging...

EDIT - PS; even I, who mucks around with these things for a living, find it hard to keep up with the sheer quantity of digital mapping now available. Here's just the Somerset ones:

http://roam.somerset.gov.uk/roam/map (which is really for footpaths, but must be pulled of the planners' GIS - it includes the 1946 aerial photos which exist for the whole country as a layer: 1:10,000 for urban areas, 1:25,000 for the rural).

There's also Know Your Place West:

Know Your Place (which includes Tithe Maps (1840s), various iterations of OS and much else: there's also versions for Devon, the various bits of what was Avon, Wilts. and Glos. Oh, and Bristol).
 
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Yorkshire Dave

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
AJC said:
I've found that the tramway isn't mentioned at all - nor does it appear in the collection of updates my copy came with.
Click to expand...

I just had to look on t'interweb..... I presume you have already found these:

Hansard
TRAMWAYS ORDERS CONFIRMATION (NO. 1) BILL. [H.L.]
HL Deb 06 May 1895 vol 33 c477 477
§ A Bill to confirm certain Provisional Orders made by the Board of Trade under the Tramways Act, 1870, relating to City of Gloucester Tramways, London United Tramways, and Somerton, Keinton Mandeville, and Castle Cary Tramways. [No. 97.]

Somerton, Keinton Mandeville and Castle Cary Tramway (Deviations)

This record is held by Somerset Heritage Centre (South West Heritage Trust)

Reference: Q\RUp/463

Title: Somerton, Keinton Mandeville and Castle Cary Tramway (Deviations)

Description:
Engineer: James B Walton
Parishes: Lovington, Alford.
Plans, sections, O.S. 1" map, notice of application to Board of Trade.

Date: 30 Nov 1894

Held by: Somerset Heritage Centre (South West Heritage Trust), not available at The National Archives - see below

QUARTER SESSIONS RECORDS FOR THE COUNTY OF SOMERSET
Orders, Acts and Miscellaneous Papers
Somerton, Keinton Mandeville and Castle Cary Light Railway. 1891-1897
Repository: Somerset Heritage Centre
Reference number: Q/RUO/13
Date: 1891-1897
Extent: 1
Format: bundle
Access status: Open
Level: Item

And this short paper about the quarrying: https://www.victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk/.../Quarrying_at_Keinton_Mandeville.doc

 
AJC

AJC

Western Thunderer
Oh yes, all of those, not that I've been to Taunton to look at them (yet). Mary, who wrote the quarrying piece, is our author for the current Somerset volumes and I'm currently the series editor of the Victoria County History. This is one of those instances where my interests and work coincide. :)

The text in Hansard will probably be very similar to that published in the London Gazette linked to in the first post of this thread.

Adam
 
AJC

AJC

Western Thunderer
I think the hard copy of volume 10 is where came across it. I'm not quite sure why the then Somerset editor gave this scheme such prominence in the text; he tended towards excessive brevity!

My colleagues downstairs run British History Online. I have some reservations about the way it presents the texts on it but 1. They know that, and 2. It's still phenomenally useful. I'm currently editing the next Yorkshire volume as it happens - the flatlands around Howden in the old East Riding. The maximum spot height in the whole volume is 7 m. above sea level: most of the visible topography is negative (and the good people of the East Riding have dozens of words for ditches...) or man-made: ridge lines of houses in the main. West Yorkshire is one of our big gaps. We've done one parish, Barlow. You can read it - if you're so inclined - here: Barlow | Victoria County History

Adam
 
Yorkshire Dave

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
The history makes interesting reading and I note references to the Doomsday Book but not to records prior to this.

I imagine it must be difficult tracking records before the Normans, in their fit of retribution, lay waste to what was then Danelaw territory in Northern England.

It also reminded me that I have the bundle of original deeds and plans for my property built in the 1840's and a copy of some notes a neighbour prepared summarising it's history. In the village at the bottom of the valley from me (10 minutes walk) there were three mills. One of which must of had an internal narrow gauge railway (horse or man shunted) as the embedded rails are still there.

Apologies for this diversion which has no bearing on the Somerton, Keinton Mandeville and Castle Cary Light Railway but it's the old records and local history I find interesting.
 
AJC

AJC

Western Thunderer
No need to apologise - the reason it's my job is that I enjoy it; it beats working for a living for the most part!

The reason that Domesday is generally the beginning of our histories is because it's the start of the surviving documentation: we know there must have been more but let's face it, it's a long, long time ago - the current volume for the East Riding uses a charter of 959 which survives in the records of Durham Cathedral - the Normans, were actually very keen to stress the continuity of their rule from their Saxon predecessors (Harold's brief reign was a blip in their eyes) but how much people thought in documentary terms is difficult to grasp and clearly varied from place to place for all kinds of reasons only some of which are accessible now. This has nothing to do with the tramway either! Never mind, it's all grist to the mill.

Adam
 
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