The Bratch is an area of

Wombourne Wombourne is a major village and civil parish located in the district of South Staffordshire, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is 4 miles (6 km) south-west of Wolverhampton and on the border with the former West Midlands Co ...

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England, noted for its

industrial heritage Industrial heritage refers to the physical and intangible legacy of industrialisation, including buildings, machinery, workshops, sites, and landscapes of historical and technological significance. Stefan Berger and Steven High define industrial h ...

and more recently as a way station for walkers, riders and cyclists. Formerly, it was a small, separate hamlet, and became fully absorbed into Wombourne only in the 20th century. Population details for the 2011 census can be found under

Etymology

The name is derived from the Anglian dialect of

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

, in which the word ''brēc'' signifies newly broken-in land. There are a number of Bratches in Staffordshire, e.g. near Enville and Norton Canes. In each case, they are near the edges of ancient forests, so a bratch was a new clearing in the waste.W. H. Duignan, Notes on Staffordshire Place Names, Henry Frowde, London, 1902.

Bratch Locks

The Bratch Locks are a noted feature of the

Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the The Midlands, England, Midlands of England. It is long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent a ...

, planned by

James Brindley James Brindley (1716 – 27 September 1772) was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th Century. Born in the Peak ...

, and opened in 1772 as a three lock

staircase A stairwell or stair room is a room in a building where a stair is located, and is used to connect walkways between floors so that one can move in height. Collectively, a set of stairs and a stairwell is referred to as a staircase or stairway ...

. They were later re-engineered as three separate

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

s. They are served by two bridges, a

toll house A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road, canal, or toll bridge. History Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th and ...

, and a keeper's cottage. The whole forms a well-preserved example of vernacular

Georgian architecture Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarchs of the House of Han ...

and design, built of mellow local

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

Bratch Pumping Station

A notable example of

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the st ...

and engineering, the Bratch Pumping Station was built in 1895. It was the result of a dispute over water pricing between

Bilston Bilston is a market town in the City of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. It is in the Black Country, south east of Wolverhampton city centre and close to the borders of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough, Sandwell ...

Urban District Council and the Borough of

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

, which had supplied Bilston's water hitherto. Bilston's council decided to secure an independent water supply for the town. After some debate, it was decided to build a water works about seven miles from Bilston, at the Bratch. The

pumping station Pumping stations, also called pumphouses, are public utility buildings containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are critical in a variety of infrastructure systems, such as water supply, Land reclamation, ...

tower was built with ornate

brickwork Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by ...

and extravagant

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was main ...

s: it is clearly visible from the canal. Originally, there was also a tall,

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

chimney stack, but this was demolished after the works became obsolete. Two

steam engines A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

pumped water from the underlying sandstone for more than six decades. They were generally used in turn, rather than simultaneously, and raised the water about 50 metres from the underlying Bunter sandstone. It was then pumped to a reservoir on the then border between Wolverhampton and Bilston, at Goldthorn Hill, about 100 metres higher. The site is still used for water extraction by

Severn Trent Severn Trent plc is a water company based in Coventry, England. It supplies 4.6 million households and business across the Midlands and Wales. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Severn Trent, the ...

, although the pumping station became redundant in 1960. The building and one of the engines were restored from 1991. With the support of Severn Trent and Friends of the Bratch, Chief Engineer Len Crane and a local group of enthusiasts hold steamings at public holidays.

The former Wombourn railway station

Wombourn railway station Wombourn railway station was the main intermediate station on the Wombourne Branch Line, situated at the Bratch. It was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1925 and closed in 1932. It was a grandiose affair with a goods yard and many stati ...

(the correct spelling, as the final 'e' became common only later) was located at the Bratch, about 200 metres from the locks. It served the Wombourne Branch Line of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

, which was built between 1913 and 1925. The line was never heavily used by passengers, and ceased to function as a peacetime passenger line as early as 1932, although it proved important for the transport of

strategic material Strategic material is any sort of raw material that is important to an individual's or organization's strategic plan and supply chain management. Lack of supply of strategic materials may leave an organization or government vulnerable to disrup ...

s and troops during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After 1945, its decline continued and it was closed in 1965 as part of the

Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...

. The line runs roughly parallel to the canal and to the Smestow Brook. The former railway land has become the South Staffordshire Railway Walk Local Nature Reserve and the Smestow Valley Local Nature Reserve. The track bed has become a bridle path, giving walkers, cyclists and riders views of, and access to, a large area of Staffordshire countryside. The station, meanwhile, has become an information point and café. It has a car park for visitors, and the site is also the base for a number of community groups.

Gallery

Image:StaffsWorcs Bratch Toll.jpg, The Bratch Upper Bridge and

at the Bratch Locks. Image:Badgernet Bratch Locks.jpg, The flight of three locks presents a considerable challenge, and is very narrow in places. Each lock has a mitred pair of bottom gates and a single leaf top gate. Image:StaffsWorcs Bratch Locks.jpg, Upper locks and toll house. Image:Bratch Pumping Station 01.jpg, The pumping station from the north, showing ornate brickwork and pinnacles. Image:Bratch - steam pumping engines - geograph.org.uk - 409770.jpg, The pumping engines

References

External links

Friends of Bratch Pumping Station

Waterscape entry for the Bratch.

Local Council page for the South Staffordshire Railway Walk
{{authority control Buildings and structures in Staffordshire Tourist attractions in Staffordshire Villages in Staffordshire Museums in Staffordshire Locks of Staffordshire Steam museums in England Former pumping stations Industrial archaeological sites in England Wombourne