Ridge Locomotive Shed

SY 98 NW 235/6/10006

ARNE RIDGE Ridge Locomotive Shed

II

Railway locomotive shed. Circa 1870-80, built for Pike Bros. Brick. Slate roof with gabled ends. Small rectangular on plan building. Wooden sliding entrance doors at north end. Window on either side with cambered brick arch. Ventilator on ridge of roof. INTERIOR said to have retained water tank. It is one of the earliest known narrow gauge locomotive sheds. Pike Bros built a horse drawn railway in 1833-9 from clay deposits at Blue Pool, to Ridge, east of Wareham on the River Frome, where a short canal gave access to the rail head. The clay was taken by barge to Poole Quay. The line was laid as edge rails of about 4ft gauge. It was extended to the banks of the River Frome, and by 1863 the line had been extended westwards to Creech. In 1866 the first railway locomotive used the line which was re-gauged to 2ft 8". The line to Ridge remained in use until the Second World War and the whole line was closed in 1959. One of the original users of the shed, the engine Secundus' [1874] survives in the Birmingham Museum of Science and Industry. The shed might have been built especially to house Secundus. SOURCE: Wilmott, M. Unpublished research.

Listing NGR: SY9375586592