Ridge Locomotive Shed

The Ridge Locomotive Shed is a railway locomotive shed built around 1870-1880 for Pike Bros. It features a slate roof with gabled ends and has a small rectangular plan. The north end has wooden sliding entrance doors, with a window on either side that has a cambered brick arch. A ventilator is located on the ridge of the roof. The interior is said to have retained a water tank. This shed is one of the earliest known narrow gauge locomotive sheds. Pike Bros constructed a horse-drawn railway between 1833 and 1839 from clay deposits at Blue Pool to Ridge, east of Wareham on the River Frome, where a short canal provided access to the rail head. The clay was transported by barge to Poole Quay. The railway was laid with edge rails of about 4 feet gauge and was extended to the banks of the River Frome, reaching Creech by 1863. The first railway locomotive began using the line in 1866, which was then re-gauged to 2 feet 8 inches. The line to Ridge remained operational until the Second World War and was closed entirely in 1959. One of the original users of the shed, the engine Secundus from 1874, is preserved in the Birmingham Museum of Science and Industry. The shed may have been specifically built to house Secundus.