Wollaton Wagonway
Encyclopedia
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
by Huntingdon Beaumont
Huntingdon Beaumont
Huntingdon Beaumont was an innovative entrepreneur in coal mining, who built what is currently credited as the world's first wagonway. Regrettably he was less successful as a businessman and died having been imprisoned for debt....
in partnership with Sir Percival Willoughby, is currently credited as the world's first overland wagonway
Wagonway
Wagonways consisted of the horses, equipment and tracks used for hauling wagons, which preceded steam powered railways. The terms "plateway", "tramway" and in someplaces, "dramway" are also found.- Early developments :...
and is therefore regarded as a significant step in the development of railways
Timeline of railway history
-Ancient times:* ca. 600 BC - A basic form of the railway, the rutway, - existed in ancient Greek and Roman times, the most important being the ship trackway Diolkos across the Isthmus of Corinth...
.
The wagonway was the earliest form of railway. Although modern historians are uncertain as to whether it evolved or was invented, it is known that, between the Autumn of 1603 and 1 October 1604, a waggonway (wagonway
Wagonway
Wagonways consisted of the horses, equipment and tracks used for hauling wagons, which preceded steam powered railways. The terms "plateway", "tramway" and in someplaces, "dramway" are also found.- Early developments :...
) had been built near Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
. It ran for approximately two miles (3 km) from Strelley
Strelley, Nottingham
Strelley is the name of a village and civil parish to the west of Nottingham. It is also the name of the nearby post war council housing estate. The village lies within Broxtowe, whilst the estate is in the City of Nottingham...
to Wollaton
Wollaton
Wollaton is an area in the western part of Nottingham, England. It is home to Wollaton Hall with its museum, deer park, lake, walks and golf course...
to assist the haulage of coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
. Earlier examples may have been built, but the Wollaton Wagonway is the earliest surface-level waggonway on record anywhere in the world, and is therefore believed to have been the first. It was built by Huntingdon Beaumont
Huntingdon Beaumont
Huntingdon Beaumont was an innovative entrepreneur in coal mining, who built what is currently credited as the world's first wagonway. Regrettably he was less successful as a businessman and died having been imprisoned for debt....
who was the partner of Sir Percival Willoughby, the local land-owner and owner of Wollaton Hall
Wollaton Hall
Wollaton Hall is a country house standing on a small but prominent hill in Wollaton, Nottingham, England. Wollaton Park is the area of parkland that the stately house stands in. The house itself is a natural history museum, with other museums in the out-buildings...
.
The above is from Sir Percival Willoughby's agreement with Huntingdon Beaumont dated 1 October 1604. Sir Percival was Lord of the Manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
of Wollaton and Huntingdon Beaumont was the lessee of the Strelley coal pits. They worked the Strelley mines in an equal partnership.
Comparatively little is known of the wagonway. It cost £172 (£ as of ), and ended at Wollaton Lane End, from where most of the coal was taken onwards by road to Trent Bridge and then downstream on the River Trent
River Trent
The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...
by barge. The wagons or carriages were drawn by horses on wooden rails. The Strelley mines were worked only until about 1620, by which time all readily recoverable coal had probably been mined. The wagonway was presumably then abandoned.
The success of the Wollaton Wagonway led to Huntingdon Beaumont building other wagonways for his other mining leases near Blyth
Blyth, Northumberland
Blyth is a town and civil parish in southeast Northumberland, England. It lies on the coast, to the south of the River Blyth and is approximately 21 kilometres northeast of Newcastle upon Tyne...
in Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
. A continuous evolution of railways can be traced back to the Wollaton Wagonway.
External links
- Waggonway Research Circle: The Wollaton Wagonway of 1604. The World’s First Overland Railway, August 2005