The Neston horse-drawn tramway

(All pictures and maps can be enlarged if you click on them)

Many years ago, stone was mined at Spring Quarry - immediately underneath the present MoD buildings - and transported to Corsham Station on a horse-drawn tramway. (All the stone extraction in Corsham was from 'quarries' even though they were underground).

Stone wharf at Corsham Station

The tramway crossed from Greenhill into Spring Lane, before curving off to the loading bays to the West of Spring Lane.

In 1988, when the quarry in Park Lane was a stone museum, they held an open day and laid a stretch of track to demonstrate the use of the tramway. 

Then in 2024 two stone waggons were renovated by the members of the Brunel Shed in Potley, and placed near the A4 in Pickwick: 

 

 

Everything has now disappeared, though I managed to photograph some of the old rail from the track, now being used as a washing line pole in a Greenhill garden - only 20 yards or so from where the tramway used to run.

Two more pictures supplied to me from the collections of Derek Hawkins and Julian Carosi: 
 

The tramway in Spring Lane, Neston, where it curved off to the loading bays

 

At the corner of Potley Lane - tramway visible on the left

 Another tramway also led to the wharf at Corsham Station by crossing Potley Bridge. The track led down to the wharf at the right of the picture.  Potley Bridge is a Grade II listed building, as it dates from the pioneering stage of railway development and is a rare example of an early flying arch bridge constructed to a design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

 

In the following map I have superimposed roughly the layout of roads in the area to show where the underground quarry workings are in relation to the surface. (Click on the map to enlarge it)

The following reproductions are from a quarry map dated 1900…..