| The
Purbeck Mineral & Mining Museum |
| Books |
There are many books that cover the
clay extraction in Purbeck. Only part of the book may deal with the clay, but
this page is to list in no particular order those books that the reader may find
of use in their studies.
a)
A book dedicated to the memory of Joyce Meates
Grandparents. It tells the story of the clay working at Goathorn/Newton. If you
are interested in the clay extraction of Purbeck, then this book is a "must
read". It is a "self published" book of a limited run. The Mining
Museum has a mention.
The book is available from Joyce
Meates tel no 01929 439245. It is also in New and
Secondhand Books in Station Road, Swanage, Swanage Museum, Studland Stores,
and Durlston
Castle
b)
"Narrow Gauge Branch Lines -
Dorset & Somerset Narrow Gauge" By Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith and
Published by Middleton Press
This book includes all the Purbeck narrow gauge clay tramways and even a
little about the Museum.
c)
"Stephen Lewin and the Poole Foundry" -
By Russell Wear and Eric Lees and Published by Industrial Railway Society and
Industrial Locomotive Society in 1978 ISBN 0 901096 35 0
This book covers the History of the Poole Foundry and has a page on Fayles
first locomotive "Tiny". Please note that there is an error in the
book - the opening of the Goathorn Railway took place in 1854 and not 1868 as
stated by the book. That said, if you are interested in the history of Poole,
this book is worth a read.
d)
"Bound to the Soil" by
Barbara Kerr (A Social History of Dorset 1750-1918) published by John Baker in
1968
Chapter 2 "Arne: The Spirited Improvers" covers the start of the
clay industry in Arne in great detail and worth a read.
e)
"The Railways of Purbeck" by R.W.Kidner and
published by The Oakwood Press in 1973
A great little book packed with information on Purbeck Railways. However it
is wrong on the opening of Goathorn Railway which took place in 1854 with 170
roast beef dinners for the workers.and not as per the book - 1868. Also Tiny
never ran on the plateway.
f)
Industrial Railways of the South West by Michael Messenger
and published by Twelveheads Press in 2005
Only 6 pages of photographs covering Purbeck but still worth a
read.
g)
"Purbeck
- The ingrained Island" by Paul Hyland published by Dovecote Press in 1978
ISBN 0 946 159 65 3
h)
Agatha's Husband by Mrs. Craik (Author of "John Halifax
Gentleman" and a friend of the Pike Brothers) published by Macmillan and
Co. in 1852
Although a fictional book, it is based on the author's knowledge of William
Joseph Pike, Wareham and Corfe Castle. It is possible to get an insight into William
Joseph Pike's character "Marmaduke Dugdale". In real life
"Marmaduke" was the name of William Joseph Pike's nephew and "Dugdale"
of his neighbours who lived opposite.
i)
"Branch Line to Swanage
to1992" Middleton Press
20 plus pages of the clay industry along the Swanage Branch.
j)
"Purbeck Revealed" by
Iiay Cooper and published by James Pembroke ISBN 0 9548176-0-5
This is an excellent read and
captures the spirit of Purbeck. However research has shown up a few errors in
the book regarding the Ball Clay industry.
In the chapter "The Heath: East of the
Wareham Road" you mention the school at Goathorn and state "When
an extension to Corfe opened in 1905 the school was doomed and before long,
the train carried kids to school there"
Working from the Corfe School Logbooks, the school train did not commence until 27th June 1934. On the 5th
January 1937 the "Goathorn Children" were transferred to Studland
School.
Further on in the same chapter "The
Industrial Revolution caused a dramatic surge in demand"
According to Josiah Wedgwood report to a Privy Council in 1785 his business,
built on the use of ball clay, was one of the driving forces for the
revolution in Transportation, so it is rather the other way round that the use
of ball clay caused a dramatic surge in the Industrial Revolution. In
Staffordshire the famous potter Josiah Wedgwood saw an opportunity to bring
bulky cargoes of clay to his factory doors, and to transport his fragile
finished goods to market in Manchester, Birmingham or further afield by water,
minimising breakages. Within just a few years of the Bridgewater's opening, an
embryonic national canal network came into being, with the construction of
canals such as the Oxford Canal and the Trent & Mersey Canal. The
new canal system was both cause and effect of the rapid industrialisation of
the British Midlands and north. The period between the 1770s and the 1830s is
often referred to as the "Golden Age" of British canals.
In the chapter "The Western Heath to Luckford
Lake" mentions "A Devon man
, William Pike, started one, opening trial Pits near Furzebrook in 1760"
I have traced the Pike Family tree back and the
Pike who signed a contract with Wedgwood in 1791 was William Pike who was born
in 1762. William Pike was resident in the Square in Corfe Castle in the 1790
Census, but went on to live at Bucknowle House. His father was Joseph Pike who
was a clay merchant in Chudleigh, Devon. William Pike's sons were William
Joseph and John William Pike and they both lived in Wareham. William Joseph
was "the railway Pike".
Further on in the same Paragraph, "A
London Potter, Benjamin Fayle, launched the second, Fayle and Company, digging
pits at Norden in 1795" Several
mistakes here - Benjamin Fayle was a London Merchant, born in Ireland in 1751
(his great Grandfather was William Edmundson who founded the society of
friends in Ireland in 1654). No way was he a Potter. There were already other
clay firms in Purbeck such as the Browns who first dug Blue Pool, and Hatherly
who Lord Rivers supported and made the Pikes carry Hatherly's clay on their railway.
So Benjamin Fayle was not the second. In fact it was Barker Chifney (A London
and Liverpool Merchant) that dug the pits at Norden in 1795 with Benjamin
Fayle taking over from a Bankrupted Barker Chifney in 1803.
Two Paragraphs on and "In
1866 Pikes took the initiative, constructing an 81cm line from Furzebrook to
Ridge Quay" Pikes constructed
their line around 1840 and in 1866 introduced Steam Engines.
And a little further on - "Fayle
expanded eastwards, exploiting deposits at Newton, and building a new line in
1868, served by a steam locomotive, Tiny."
The line was opened in 1854 by Rev Richard Fayle, Charlotte Fayle, and
Benjamin Guy Babington (directors of B.Fayle and Co. - Benjamin Fayle having
died in 1831) To celebrate they gave the staff 170 roast beef dinners. The
Locomotive "Corfe" was built by Lewin's in Poole some time between
1868 and 1874. It was nicknamed "Tiny" because of it's size.
|