Monument record 15739/1 - Mow Cop to Kent Green Wharf Tramway - Tramway Tunnel

<1> Kirkham, L, 2002, The Mow Cop Tunnel and Tramways of the North Staffordshires - Cheshire Border (Article in Journal). SCH8980.

A replacement for the horse drawn tramway dating from 1803 to facilitate further expansion of the market for coal from the Tower Hill and Stonetrough Collieries in Biddulph. This tramway, built in 1832, connected the mines to a wharf on the newly constructed Macclesfield Canal at Kent Green. The new tramway incorporated a tunnel through the summit of Mow Cop and a gravity brake incline between Mow Cop and the wharf at Kent Green. Tower Hill and Stonetrough Collieries closed circa 1880 and it is likely that the tramway went out of use at this time.

The majority of the tunnel is still extant, being only filled in on the Staffordshire side following a collapse in the 1930s. It is approximately 350 metres long, 2.5 metres wide and 2.5 metres high, and was excavated by a combination of digging and shot blasting. The tunnel is brick lined at the entrance and in areas where the bedrock is unstable. Half way along the tunnel are two semi-circular areas, c.2.6 metres wide and 1.7 metres deep cut into the sides of the tunnel to roof height and lined with drystone walling. This may have facilitated a turntable. The rails were held in place by wooden sleepers which projected from the walls of the tunnel. This may have been intended to leave the central area between the tracks clear for the horses, but may also have been a preventative measure to stop the rails spreading.

<2> Unknown, Various, Mow Cop Interactive, http://www.mowcop.info/htm/industry/tunnel.htm & http://www.mowcop.info/htm/industry/coal.htm (Web Site). SCH7739.

Agreement to construct the tramway was reached in 1838 and took six years to construct. The waggons were pulled by horse in groups of six. The tunnel is straight and the floor is slightly inclined with the highest point in the middle. Approximately one third of the way through the tunnel from the Cheshire side, the tunnel width is doubled in a circular area. This was possibly to allow the horse to be unhitched and turned, with the waggons pushed downslope to the incline. Original wooden sleepers survive, these were placed at angles to each other to prevent the tracks from spreading. The tunnel is brick lined in places. In the unlined areas the roof can be as high as ten feet. The pits were closed and the tramway tracks lifted in 1887. Includes film of an exploration of the tunnel.

<3> See map for surveyor, c.1837-51, Cheshire Tithe Maps and Awards, EDT 309/2, 1838 (Maps and Plans). SCH3266.

Not depicted on this map.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ8557, 1873-1888 (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

This map depicts the tunnel entrance, at the end of a cutting, but not the course of the tunnel.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1881-2, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 6 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ 85 NE, 1881-1882 (Maps and Plans). SCH2474.

This map depicts the course of the tunnel in Cheshire.

<6> Ordnance Survey, 1909-1912, Ordnance Survey Second Revision County Series (Epoch 3) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ8557, 1909 (Maps and Plans). SCH4361.

This is the first map at this scale to depict the course of the tunnel in Cheshire.