History. Swanage Pier Tramway In Sepia
by Linsey Williams
Title
History. Swanage Pier Tramway In Sepia
Artist
Linsey Williams
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
The Swanage Pier Tramway was a narrow gauge tramway in the port town of Swanage, in the English county of Dorset. It opened about 1858 and closed in the 1930s.
From the 12th century, the Swanage area was well known for the quarrying of Purbeck Marble, actually a hard wearing form of limestone. Much of this was shipped out through Swanage, originally being loaded into small vessels from horse carts driven into the waters of Swanage Bay. In 1858 a pier, now known as the Old Pier, was built in deeper water and linked to the stone stores on the water front by a horse-drawn tramway. The line survived in use until the 1930s, latterly being used to carry fish from the pier to a fish store built alongside the line around 1855.
Uploaded
May 27th, 2014
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