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Concept
Hook Norton ironstone quarries (Brymbo)
Summary
The Hook Norton ironstone quarries (Brymbo) were ironstone quarries near Hook Norton in Oxfordshire, England. The quarries were in operation from 1899 to 1946 supplying ironstone to the Brymbo Steelworks in Wrexham and were served by the Brymbo Ironworks Railway, an extensive, narrow gauge industrial railway.
The original Brymbo Ironworks was founded near Wrexham in Wales in 1798 by John Wilkinson. Wilkinson was a pioneer of the industrial revolution and made a significant fortune from his ironworks. When he died in 1808 his company was held in trust for many years due to a legal dispute over his will. In 1842 a new company was formed to run the Brymbo Ironworks and following successful steel-making experiments the Brymbo Steel Company was incorporated in 1884.
By 1897 the works was close to exhausting its source of ironstone near Wrexham and sought an alternative quarry to feed its furnaces. Ironstone fields near Hook Norton were bought and a works set up to calcine the ore. A second kiln was brought into service in June 1900. A narrow gauge internal tramway system was built to serve the quarry and works. This grew to be the largest gauge railway in the British steel-making industry.
The kilns were sited next to the standard gauge Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway (part of the Great Western Railway) at Council Hill Sidings, three quarters of a mile east of Hook Norton Station.
Six cottages were built near the works to house skilled personnel, some transferred from Wrexham. Brymbo had little hope of obtaining skilled workers locally, stating: labour will have to be imported, as there has been no unemployment here for a long time past. (Banbury Guardian, quoted in "The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands")
The first section of the tramway was built, running south from the works, through a tunnel under the Hook Norton to Milcombe Road and past the cottages to a quarry of 152 acres at Park Farm. The tramway was soon extended to the west passing under the B&CDR viaduct to a new quarry near the village.
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