Hook Norton Ironstone Partnership facts for kids

The Hook Norton Ironstone Partnership was a company that dug up ironstone (a rock used to make iron) in a big way near Hook Norton. Even though they only worked for twelve years, their old digging sites later became part of the Brymbo Steelworks quarries. You can still see parts of their old railways and tramways today!

The Story of the Partnership

How the Partnership Started

A big reason for building the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway was to connect the ironstone mines in North Oxfordshire with the coal mines in South Wales. This way, the ironstone could be easily moved. The railway's path at Hook Norton was changed, which cost an extra £25,000. This change might have happened because there was a lot of ironstone found there.

The Oxfordshire Ironstone Company bought land around Hook Norton Station in 1883. This land was then given to a group of partners: Richard Looker, John Wilson, and Henry Lovatt, in April 1884. A local newspaper, The Banbury Guardian, said that there was a "very rich bed of iron ore" at Hook Norton. They expected to make a lot of money from it using the new railway. The land was later transferred to the Hook Norton Ironstone Partnership in April 1889, with Richard Looker as the first manager.

Digging for Ironstone at Adderbury

In the late 1880s, the Partnership also got permission to dig for ironstone near Adderbury Station. Work started there in 1890. The company bought a small train called Florence. It was a `0-4-0` type locomotive, meaning it had four driving wheels and no leading or trailing wheels.

They built a special track called a tramway for Florence. This tramway ran from a loading area at Adderbury Station. It went south, starting with a very steep slope (1 in 17). The track went under a bridleway (a path for horses and walkers) and reached the digging area near Oxford Road. The company's offices and the train shed were at the top of the steep slope.

Florence had trouble on the steep slope, so they changed it to a cable-haulage system. This meant a stationary steam engine pulled the wagons up and down using a cable. The flatter parts of the track were worked by horses. Florence was then moved to the Partnership's other digging sites at Hook Norton.

Digging for Ironstone at Hook Norton

People disagree about exactly where the first digging started at Hook Norton. Some say it was in the field next to the station, which is now called Austins Way. Others say it was in the field north of the road. However, maps from 1900 show that both areas were being dug up.

In 1888, the Partnership bought a house, cottages, and orchards from the Hiatt family. Ironstone digging seems to have started there in 1889. A larger train, a Manning Wardle `0-6-0` type called Hook Norton, was delivered in November 1889. This was a standard gauge (normal size) train. It was kept in a shed near the Banbury Road, just east of the station.

At first, ironstone from the field south-east of the station was loaded directly onto wagons pulled by Hook Norton. Ironstone from the field north of the road was carried by horse-drawn carts to the station. In the 1890s, the Partnership bought a much larger area of land between the Banbury Road and the Sibford Road. They dug in two main areas on this land: Townsend Quarry and Hiatt's Pit.

The Tramway System

To move the ironstone from the new quarries to the station, the Partnership extended their standard-gauge railway line down the hillside. It went under the north end of the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway's viaduct (a long bridge). Here, there was a special loading dock called the "tip-up" or "kick-up." This dock allowed ironstone from the smaller one-foot eight-inch tramway above to be tipped into the standard-gauge wagons below.

The tramway then went north, going uphill (about 1 in 20 slope), and passed under the Banbury Road through a tunnel. This part of the tramway used cable-haulage to pull the wagons. A second cable-hauled section took the tramway down to a stream, where there was another train shed. Florence was kept here after being moved from Adderbury Quarries in 1892. From this shed, the tramway curved uphill to Hiatt's Pit quarry. A more direct way to Hiatt's Pit was a double-track slope (about 1 in 11) running north from the engine shed.

A branch line from the first cable-hauled section, near the tunnel, went under a track called Engine Shed Lane to enter Townsend Quarry. Wagons from this quarry were directly attached to the cable to go to the tipping-dock.

The Partnership's Locomotives

Why the Partnership Closed

By 1901, the Partnership was having money problems. The quarries closed in May 1901, and the company officially shut down in 1903. The GWR was owed a lot of money, so they took ownership of the train Hook Norton. This train was then used for many years on the Weymouth Harbour Tramway. The Partnership's railway sidings (extra tracks) at Hook Norton Station were also given to the GWR and changed into loops (places where trains can pass each other).

The land at Hook Norton was sold to the Brymbo Steel Company in 1909. Brymbo also bought the train Florence but quickly sold it to Dick, Kerr & Company. The Adderbury quarries were taken over by another company, Cochrane & Co. (Woodside) Ltd., who kept them running and even made them bigger.

What You Can Still See Today

The tunnel under the Banbury Road is still there. The south entrance is now in the garden of a private house in Austins Way. The north entrance was walled up in 2010. The tipping-dock near the viaduct has also survived.

Images for kids

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  The path of the Partnership's standard-gauge railway line, going down from Hook Norton Station to the viaduct.

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  The standard gauge line passed to the right of this viaduct pillar.

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  The tipping dock. Standard gauge wagons ran at the bottom of the wall. Iron ore was tipped from the narrow gauge tramway above.

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  The north entrance of the tramway tunnel under the Banbury road.

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  The ironstone face of the Partnership's Townsend Quarry. Tracks connected to the main tramway ran at the bottom of the face.

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  The cable-worked slope going down in a cutting to the stream.

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  The path of the train-worked tramway to Hiatt's Pit. It curved to the right around the higher ground.

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  The ironstone face of Hiatt's Pit.