Monument record 8406/1/2 - Ironstone Railway From The Firs to The LNWR

An ironstone railway built in the mid 19th century to transport the ore from the quarries in The Firs to a tipping dock just south of the Grendon Road. Earthworks are still visible between The Firs and Roe Farm.

{1} When operations commenced in 1858 both mining and opencast quarrying were used at The Firs, a patch of woodland on the summit of the ridge to south-east of the village. A narrow gauge rope-worked incline ran down to a point just south of the Grendon road, where there was a tipping dock to a standard gauge line connecting to the Northampton to Peterborough LNWR line between Billing and Castle Ashby stations.
Horses were also initially used for the standard gauge line but were later replaced by two locomotives which were housed in a shed near the level crossing.
There are still some traces of the Cogenhoe lines, suggesting that the original system was well-laid, with earthworks where necessary. The course of the standard gauge line from the LNWR to the level crossing site can be only faintly discerned, and the junction itself has been mostly incorporated into the field.
Beyond the crossing the standard gauge can be made out by a slight depression in the fields at various points, but is best seen when the ground is freshly ploughed as an ochreous streak across the dark soil, the remnants of fallen iron ore. The route of the narrow gauge line to The Firs starts as a well-preserved embankment at the road, which turns into a cutting as the higher ground is reached. In The Firs the upper course of the tramway is marked by a hollow between the trees that runs into a wider gullet trending north-west to south-east.

<1> Tonks E., 1989, The Ironstone Quarries of The Midlands (History, Operation and Railways): The Northampton Area, p.128-33 (checked) (Book). SNN47272.

Record last edited

Sep 12 2024 12:40PM