27/05/2026
Uppingham’s WW1 Wartime Ironstone Quarries Recalled
One hundred years ago in May 1926 the ironstone quarry workings near Uppingham in Rutland finally closed for good.
The existence of good quality ironstone in the vicinity of Uppingham in Rutland was well known as it had seen some local use for iron smelting, but also used for building purposes in the town. The local ironstone is recorded as only lying some 18 inches below the surface and therefore relatively easy to work by hand provided a good transport system could be made available to the distant iron and steel markets for ironstone.
In 1906 James Pain Ltd opened up an ironstone quarry in Rutland at Market Overton. This was followed in 1912 by preparations for a new ironstone quarry lying about ½ mile south of Uppingham to be managed by Gordon Pain, James Pain’s son.
In September 1912 a lease to use land for ironstone mines was agreed which was supplemented by a land lease to work ironstone, limestone and sand from under the Glebe lands owned by the Church in late November 1912.
A land lease to give rights to lay and use a mineral railway was agreed in October 1912. The line was also extended to cover land as agreed between the parties in December 1912.
As the mineral railway was to pass under the Uppingham to Corby road by way of a tunnel an agreement with Rutland County Council Highways was agreed in December 1913 after quarrying operations commenced initially on the Adderley lease in March 1913.
Operations on the Glebe Quarry commenced in February 1914.
James Pain Ltd was also keen to extend the Glebe quarry closer to the town, but faced a lot of local opposition. However Uppingham School, who had local interests, managed to raise enough money, principally from wealthy ex-pupils, to out-bid Paines for the land, which also included the mineral rights. This action effectively blocked any expansion of the Glebe ironstone quarry in a northerly direction.
A standard gauge mineral tramway was built, to be worked by a steam locomotive, linking the quarry to the Uppingham Branch of the London and North Western Railway. The agreement to construct the link to the LNWR Seaton to Uppingham branchline was secured on 11th October 1912. The new points to access the mineral tramway were located ½ mile south of Uppingham Station near a viaduct. Just outside the LNWR boundary a boundary gate marked the entrance to the mineral railway and LNWR locomotives were not permitted to pass the gate. Just after the gate a passing loop line was built to accommodate both empty and loaded wagons for use on the mineral railway. A small locomotive shed was built close to the LNWR junction. The mineral tramway was some three quarters of a mile in length and steeply graded at 1 in 40 up for the whole of its length.
For the start of construction in 1912 a new 0-4-0 saddle tank steam locomotive (works no. 1257) was supplied by Peckett and Sons Ltd of Bristol being named UPPINGHAM. The loco was used to propel the empty wagons up the gradient to the quarry workings and then bring the loaded ones down to the L.N.W. railway for onward transit. James Pain Ltd did not own any ironworks themselves and thus sold the ironstone on the general open market. Prior to the establishment of its new ironstone quarries near Colsterworth in 1919 the Appleby Frodingham Steel Company purchased the ironstone from James Pain’s Ltd ironstone pits for use in their Scunthorpe steelworks, with the stone being transported there by rail.
Empty wagons for the ironstone traffic were first brought up to Uppingham Station, where they were held until required. The sidings laid out at Uppingham Station had sufficient capacity to accommodate up to 100 wagons, but the rail traffic also included agricultural produce as well as coal and ironstone. An LNWR locomotive would then take the ironstone wagons down to James Pain Ltd siding at the quarry and push the wagons onto the tracks of the quarry operator. The same locomotive would take away any wagons loaded with ironstone, but due to the downhill gradient the train length was limited to 10 loaded wagons. Before departure the brakes of six out of the ten ironstone wagons were pinned down to provide more braking power on the falling 1 in 50 gradient towards Seaton. The signalman at Seaton had instructions to open the gates of the level crossing in case of any over running of the ironstone train.
The ironstone quarries provided a welcome new source of employment for local people as much of the work involved hand labour. The range of jobs thus became available encompassing the positions of ironstone labourer, ironstone getter, shotfirer and clerk.
The rail wagons were loaded with ironstone deposited from wheelbarrows pushed over the wagons by quarry workers on timber planks. The ironstone pit at Glebe Quarry reached full production in early 1914 with production operations being enhanced by the use of a new 20 ton Ruston Proctor steam shovel delivered in January 1914.
The onset of the First World War in July 1914 created and subsequently maintained a much enlarged market for iron and steel for armaments and other wartime needs. James Pain Ltd were quick to take advantage of the major increase in demand for ironstone and thus a second quarry was opened up known as Adderley Quarry, also having a rail connection to the mineral tramway. In 1916 the quarries had 59 employees with production steadily increasing from 168,760 tons in 1917 to 200,145 tons in 1918.
To help support increased ironstone production during 1918 two larger and more powerful steam locomotives were delivered to the quarry. The first locomotive was named ADDERLEY and was transferred from the companies ironstone quarry at Market Overton. The second locomotive was built new in 1918 again named UPPINGHAM . With the arrival of the larger locomotives the smaller Peckett loco UPPINGHAM was subsequently transferred to the Companies ironstone pits at Market Overton in Rutland.
To combat a potential shortage of available labour, German prisoners of war were put to work in the Uppingham quarries. An internment camp was built for the POW on London Road and in 1917 a large number of prisoners arrived to be employed in the ironstone pits. The prisoners were under the guard of some 50 men of the Royal Defence Corps.
With the cessation of hostilities in 1918 there was a sharp economic contraction and the demand for ironstone declined dramatically. This prompted a temporary closure of the Uppingham ironstone pits in 1921 and longer closures in 1923/4 with just a skeleton staff retained to keep the fencing in order and look after the site.
Complete closure of the ironstone pits came about in May 1926, largely brought about by the General Strike.
The two steam locomotives together with the Ruston steam shovel were transferred to the company’s ironstone quarries at Market Overton and the quarry tramway tracks lifted. The engine shed was dismantled and by 1930 all vestiges of the mineral tramway were gone leaving only the tunnel under the Uppingham to Corby road as a reminder of its industrial past.
To mark the 100th anniversary of the closure of Uppingham Ironstone Quarry the museum has mounted a display on the quarry and their volunteers are also planning to undertake a cosmetic restoration of the 114 year old Peckett built UPPINGHAM steam locomotive which still survives at the Rocks by Rail – The Living Ironstone Museum near Cottesmore in Rutland. A photo of the loco whilst still working at Wirksworth has recently been donated to the museum and is shown below.
Years spent in open storage have not been kind to some of the platework of the machine and it is proposed to move the loco into the conservation workshop and lift the cab and saddletank in order to remove corroded platework and fit new sections as required. All metalwork would be cleaned, treated and painted to conserve them. Stored component parts would be refitted as part of the conservation scheme. Upon completion the loco would be returned to the exhibition centre on public display together with new interpretation boards.
A target of £4,000 has been set for the appeal fund to carry out repairs and purchase conservation materials and any donations by way of cheques should be made out to Rutland Railway Museum and handed in at the museum or sent to:
RBR Treasurer, UPPINGHAM Locomotive Conservation Appeal,
4 Main Street, Stanford on Soar, Loughborough LE12 5PY United Kingdom
For those who wish to donate with Gift Aid please contact [email protected] for a form.
As there are no known photographs existing of the Uppingham quarries in operation the images below are taken from the Museums new Uppingham Quarries diorama associated with the new display.
RbR
