The Swanage Pier Tramway was a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller struc ...

tramway in the port town of

Swanage Swanage () is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately south of Poole and east of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the civi ...

, in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

county of

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of ...

. It opened about 1858 and closed in the 1930s.

Overview

From the 12th century, the Swanage area was well known for the quarrying of

Purbeck Marble Purbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone found in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England. It is a variety of Purbeck stone that has been quarried since at least Roman times as a decorative building stone. Geology St ...

, actually a hard wearing form of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

. Much of this was shipped out through Swanage, originally being loaded into small vessels from horse carts driven into the waters of Swanage Bay. In 1858 a pier, now known as the ''Old Pier'', was built in deeper water and linked to the stone stores on the waterfront by a horse-drawn tramway. The line survived in use until the 1930s, latterly being used to carry fish from the pier to a fish store built alongside the line around 1855.

Track gauge

Existing evidence on the ground shows that the tramway was of

, although it was originally standard gauge. The tramway was re-gauged prior to the opening of the public pier. There is little evidence that mechanical traction was ever used on the line.

The site today

About of track still exist, embedded in the footway that links the centre of Swanage with the later built '' Steamer Pier'': the remnants start at the

Swanage Museum & Heritage Centre Swanage Museum & Heritage Centre is a local history museum and family history centre in Swanage, Dorset. The museum was established in 1976; it merged with and has been collocated with the heritage centre in its current location since 2005. Ti ...

. The timber supports of the ''Old Pier'' also still exist, albeit in a derelict condition.

LSWR line

The Swanage Pier Tramway should not be confused with a standard gauge tramway opened by the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exete ...

(LSWR) as an extension of one of the sidings at

Swanage railway station Swanage railway station is a railway station located in Swanage, on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. Originally the terminus of a London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) branch line from Wareham, the line and station were ...

. This connected to a stone store in the same vicinity of those served by the pier tramway, but the two lines were never connected.

References

Swanage Industrial railways in England Pier railways Rail transport in Dorset 2 ft 6 in gauge railways in England Closed railway lines in South West England Railway lines opened in 1858 Horse-drawn railways {{England-rail-transport-stub