Hook Norton Ironstone Partnership
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The Hook Norton Ironstone Partnership was the first company to quarry
ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...
at
Hook Norton Hook Norton is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It lies northeast of Chipping Norton, close to the Cotswold Hills. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,117. The village is formed of four neighbourhoods: Ea ...
on a large scale. Although only in operation for twelve years, its quarries subsequently became part of the
Brymbo Steelworks The Brymbo Steel Works was a former large steelworks in the village of Brymbo near Wrexham, Wales. In operation between 1796 and 1990, it was significant on account of its founder, one of whose original blast furnace stacks remains on the site ...
quarries and relics of the Partnership's railways and tramways can still be seen today.


History


Formation

A major objective in the building of the
Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway The Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway (B&CDR) was a railway company through the Cotswolds in England that built a line between points near Banbury and Cheltenham. Its principal objective, as well as a general rural rail service, was the conve ...
was to place the North
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
ironstone producing district in direct communication with the
South Wales coalfield The South Wales Coalfield ( cy, Maes glo De Cymru) extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, espec ...
. After the line had been authorised, its route at Hook Norton was altered incurring extra costs of £25,000. This change may have been influenced by the presence of ironstone at Hook Norton. Land on both sides of the railway at Hook Norton Station was purchased by the Oxfordshire Ironstone Company on an unknown date but "probably early in 1883". This land was conveyed to a partnership of Richard Looker (the company secretary of the B&CDR), John Wilson and Henry Lovatt on 19 April 1884. The
Banbury Guardian The ''Banbury Guardian'' is a local tabloid newspaper published in Banbury, Oxfordshire. It serves north Oxfordshire, southwest Northamptonshire and southeast Warwickshire. Its sister paper, ''The Banbury & District Review'', is a free weekly ta ...
for 1 September 1884 (quoted in ''The Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway'') reported:
At Bloxham and Hook Norton there is a very rich bed of iron ore, which has been purchased by the Oxfordshire Ironstone Company, and a very large income is expected to be derived from this source over the Banbury & Cheltenham Direct Railway.
The land was transferred again on 1 April 1889 to the Hook Norton Ironstone Partnership, Richard Looker being the first Partnership manager.


Adderbury quarries

The partnership obtained leases to work ironstone on the south side of Adderbury Station in the late 1880s Operations began in 1890 and the Partnership purchased a one-foot eight inch gauge
0-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were ...
locomotive ''Florence''. A tramway was built on which ''Florence'' could be used, this ran from a tipping dock in Adderbury Station goods yard. The line ran south, initially on a gradient of 1 in 17, passing under the
bridleway A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding horses, riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now s ...
to Paper Mill Cottages and finally reaching the working face next to the Oxford Road. Company offices and locomotive shed were located at the top of the incline. Problems were experienced with locomotive operation (Tonks suggests the gradient was too steep for ''Florence'') and the incline was changed to cable-haulage powered by a
stationary steam engine Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam cars ...
. The flatter route to the quarries was horse-worked. ''Florence'' was transferred to the Partnership's quarries at Hook Norton.


Hook Norton quarries

According to Margaret Dickins "the first cutting for ironstone was made in the field next to the station, between that and East End". That description corresponds to the present-day Austins Way. Eric Tonks states that Margaret Dickins is "probably incorrect, operations in the 'Station Field' north of the road being started shortly after the workings southeast of the station". Paul Ingham locates Station Field differently from Eric Tonks, referring to "Station Field (now called Austins Way). This was the site of the first commercial ironstone extraction in Hook Norton" Whatever the sequence of opening, the 1900 1:2500 Ordnance Survey map shows that both the Austins Way area and the field north of the road were quarried. A house, cottages and orchards previously possessed by the Hiatt family were obtained in 1888 and ironstone production "seems to have begun in 1889". A
Manning Wardle Manning Wardle was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Precursor companies The city of Leeds was one of the earliest centres of locomotive building; Matthew Murray built the first commercially s ...
0-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This was the most common wheel arrangemen ...
standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
Saddle Tank locomotive named ''Hook Norton'' was delivered new in November 1889, this was housed in a locomotive shed alongside the
Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...
Road, just east of the station. Initially, ironstone was obtained from the field south-east of the station, where it could be loaded directly into wagons hauled by ''Hook Norton''. Ironstone from the field north of the road was carried by horse-drawn cart to the station. A much larger area of land was acquired in the 1890s, bounded by the Banbury Road and the Sibford Road, as far as the Gate Inn. Two areas of this land were quarried by the Partnership; Townsend Quarry and Hiatt's Pit.


Tramway

To get the ironstone from the new quarries to the station, the Partnership's standard-gauge line was extended down the hillside where it passed under the north end of the B&CDR's
viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...
. A tipping-dock here enabled ore to be tipped into standard-gauge wagons from a one-foot eight inch tramway above. The tipping dock was known locally as the "tip-up" or "kick-up". The tramway ran north, on a rising gradient of about 1 in 20 passing under the Banbury Road in a
tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...
. This section of the tramway was operated by cable-haulage. A second cable-hauled section took the tramway down to a stream where there was a locomotive shed. ''Florence'' was housed here after being transferred from Adderbury Quarries in 1892. From the loco shed the tramway climbed in a curve to the quarry called Hiatt's Pit. More direct access to Hiatt's Pit was provided by a double-track incline of around 1 in 11 running north from the engine shed. A branch off the first incline near the tunnel passed under the track called Engine Shed Lane to enter Townsend Quarry. Wagons from here were attached directly to the cable for the journey to the tipping-dock. The 1900 Ordnance Survey map shows this branch as a short spur, but in the 1980s Eric Tonks found "clear evidence of a tramway alongside the lane throughout its north-south length".


Locomotives


Closure

By 1901 the Partnership had run into financial difficulties and the quarries were closed in May 1901, the company being wound up in 1903. As principal creditor, the GWR obtained the locomotive ''Hook Norton'' which was subsequently used on the
Weymouth Harbour Tramway The Weymouth Harbour Tramway (also known as the Quay Branch or Harbour Line) was a heavy rail line running entirely on the streets of Weymouth, Dorset, England from a junction to the north of Weymouth station to Weymouth Quay station at ...
for many years. The Partnership's sidings at Hook Norton Station were also transferred to the GWR and were converted into loops. The land at Hook Norton was sold to the Brymbo Steel Company in 1909. Brymbo also bought the locomotive ''Florence'' but sold it on immediately to
Dick, Kerr & Company Dick, Kerr and Company was a locomotive and tramcar manufacturer based in Kilmarnock, Scotland and Preston, England. Early history W.B. Dick and Company was founded in 1854 in Glasgow by William Bruce Dick. The company were initially oil r ...
. The Adderbury quarries were taken over by Cochrane & Co. (Woodside) Ltd. who continued to operate and expand them. Tonks, p.44.


Present-day remains

The tunnel under the Banbury Road remains, the south portal is now in the garden of a private house in Austins Way. The north portal was walled up in 2010. The tipping-dock by the viaduct has also survived.


Remains in 2011


Notes


References

* * * * * *{{cite map , publisher=Ordnance Survey , title=Oxfordshire , year=1900 , scale=1:2500, ref=Ref1900OS Quarries in England Industrial archaeological sites in England Economy of Oxfordshire