Bullo Pill Railway
| Bullo Pill Railway | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Type | Heavy rail |
| Status | Closed |
| Locale | Gloucestershire |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1810 |
| Closed | 1967 |
| Operator(s) | Bullo Pill Railway, Great Western Railway, British Railways |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Old gauge |
4 ft (1,219 mm) 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) |
The Bullo Pill Railway was an early British railway, completed in 1810 to carry coal mined in the Forest of Dean Coalfield to a port on the River Severn near Newnham, Gloucestershire. It was later converted to a broad gauge steam line by the Great Western Railway, and was closed in the 1960s.
The Forest of Dean has been exploited since ancient times, not merely for its timber, but also for the minerals beneath. All the ingredients for iron-making exist and have been used since the Roman period. The Industrial Revolution brought increased demand for coal and iron, but the Forest, while having both in abundance, was at a disadvantage, being isolated from its potential markets with only a few frequently impassable roads linking it to the outside world. The hilly terrain was unsuitable for the canals of the type which were being built elsewhere, but in the first decade of the nineteenth century plans were laid for a number of horse-drawn railways to carry goods cheaply to the Rivers Severn and Wye.
Bullo Pill, on the Severn near Newnham, originally a small tidal creek off the main river used for boat building, was developed by building a dock basin with lock gates, and wharfs for loading goods for shipment. Coal and stone from the Forest could be loaded at the dock and exported on the Severn trows up or down the river. In addition there was a flow of barges carrying coal across the river to Framilode and then along the Stroudwater Canal to Brimscombe, Stroud and Chalford.
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