Monument record 15872/4 - Railway Cutting - The North Staffordshire Railway, Audley Branch

<1> Dyble, D, Unknown, The Audley Branch Railway (Web Site). SCH9439.

A branch of the North Staffordshire Railway to connect to the mines in the Alderley area, a private railway, and a Great Western Railway line from Markey Drayton. The new railway line chiefly carried coal to Crewe for locomotive fuel, for the Cheshire chemical industry, and to Birkenhead docks for steamship fuel and overseas exports.

Construction authorised for the new line was authorised on 29th July 1864. The goods service started on 24th July 1870, with the passenger service starting ten years later on 28th June 1880.

The branch line was closed to passenger services in April 1931, due to a lack of demand. It was closed to goods services in 1962 and the track had been lifted by 1963.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ8054 (1876-1895), SJ8153 (1887), & SJ8154 (1887-1891) (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

This map depicts a railway cutting, approximately one kilometre long, to the west and north-west of Swallowmoor Wood, and north of Merelake. It carries two tracks and there is a footbridge near the wood. A mile post is located nearby.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1896-1898, Ordnance Survey First Revision County Series (Epoch 2) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ8054 (1898-1899), SJ8153 (1889), & SJ8154 (1889) (Maps and Plans). SCH3848.

As previously depicted, however two signal posts are also shown.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1909-1912, Ordnance Survey Second Revision County Series (Epoch 3) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ8054 (1909), SJ8153 (1909), & SJ8154 (1909) (Maps and Plans). SCH4361.

As previously depicted.

<5> Environment Agency, 2003-2020, Environment Agency LiDAR Surveys, Composite Last Return DSM 1m 2022 (Digital Archive). SCH7819.

The cutting survives as an earthwork, and the footbridge is still extant.