A railway designed primarily to carry iron ore from the Brendon Hill mines to Watchet, although it also carried passengers. It was built in 1856-61 and closed in 1898. It ran again in 1907-1916.

The West Somerset Mineral Railway was designed primarily to carry iron ore from the Brendon Hill mines to an outlet port at Watchet, but also carried passengers. It received Royal assent in 1855, and work started on it in 1856 and was completed in 1861. It ran successfully until 1898, when failure of the mines caused its closure. It was briefly reopened in 1907, and was finally closed in 1916; its rails being commandeered by the Ministry of Munitions in 1917. Stations on the line were Watchet, Washford, Roadwater, Comberow, Raleigh's Cross, Luxborough and Gupworthy, with many of the mines having their own sidings. [1] This feature was recorded as part of the Brendon Hills Mapping Project, carried out by the Aerial Survey section of RCHME. [2] Much of the railway and its buildings are shown on the Ordnance Survey 25 inch maps. [4,5] Several ideas and projects were mooted before the actual line was sanctioned. [6] It was also planned to extend the line to Eisen Hill in 1864, but this was never built. [7] Parts of the trackbed to the north of Burrow Farm mine and the incline were scheduled on 3/9/2004. [9] Part of the line to the south of Carnarvon New Pit was scheduled on 14/1/2005. [10] The whole of the course of the incline and the winding house have been recently purchased by ENPA, who hold copies of the detailed surveys mentioned above. [11] The history of the railway has been described at great length [1], and the remains of the incline have been recorded in considerable detail, by Mike Jones, for the Exmoor National Park Authority. The incline runs for over 1 kilometre from ST0292 3528 to ST02333 3446, with a gradient of 1 in 4. The principal building was the winding house (ST0233 3446), which had a cottage - Drum Cottage - inserted into one side. [12] The railway is referenced on the National Transport Trust's website (see External Links). [14]