Roadwater Station & The West Somerset Mineral Railway Guide
- Martin Hesp
- Apr 29, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 14
How about this for an amazing view of Roadwater Station? Doesn’t look like that any more - as many people who live in the village will tell you - including me.
An old friend of mine lives in the attractive little house that was made out of the old station - and another friend lives in the cottage just behind.
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Roadwater's Role on the Old Mineral Line
I found the old photo today in my later father’s filing cabinets - although goodness knows where he got it from. The Mineral Line went out of business way way back. Before the lockdown a friend asked me to tell him all about the old railway that used to run through the valley where I live - and we ended up climbing over 1000 feet so his request at least helped burn off some of the calories we’d taken on board during a couple of barbecues.
I wanted to show him the winding house that has recently been saved from further dereliction by the Exmoor National Park Authority
The Iron Road Through the Brendon Hills
This place was once the scene of much frenetic activity. Trucks full of heavy iron ore would be placed on the down-line while, several hundred feet below – down a three-quarter-mile-long incline - lighter empty trucks would be collected at Comberow on the up-line.
With the help of a stationary steam engine in the winding house, the trucks would be shuttled up and down – the full ones being hauled off to the seaport at Watchet where the iron ore was shipped.
The entire 13 mile line represented a fantastic feat of engineering, which is sort of sad seeing that it only enjoyed a comparatively short period of use. The massive iron drums which once turned in the winding house only began to revolve in 1860 – and by 1882-3 the Brendon Hill iron mines closed.
Remarkably the railway held on, with various levels of service, for another three decades. Having been closed in 1898 it was reactivated in 1907 by optimistic but doomed entrepreneurs who hoped to reopen the mines – and its life was further extended by an Australian company which leased a section in order to demonstrate a revolutionary new system of train control.
It’s all fascinating stuff, well recorded in an excellent book by Roger Sellick. But I at least have reason to be pleased it closed - there was no lane to my cottage before the railway came and after the line was torn up the locals eventually paved the road up the valley.
Exploring the West Somerset Mineral Railway: FAQ (2026)
What was the West Somerset Mineral Railway?
Opened in the late 1850s, this remarkable industrial railway was built to carry iron ore from the mines high in the Brendon Hills down to the port of Watchet. From there, the ore was shipped across the Bristol Channel to the ironworks in Newport, South Wales. The line closed in 1898 once the mines ceased regular operations.
Where was Roadwater Station and what remains today?
Roadwater was a key intermediate station along the valley section of the line.
The Station House: The original stone station building still stands in the village and has been preserved as a private residence.
The Route: While much of the old trackbed is on private land, several public footpaths follow adjacent to the line, offering beautiful, quiet woodland walking through the valley.
Can you walk the old Mineral Line?
Yes! A popular, family-friendly section of the trackbed has been cleared as a public permissive path. The trail runs between Roadwater and Washford, offering a flat, easy-to-follow walk through the peaceful Washford Valley. It is perfect for spotting local wildlife and imagining the steam engines that once rattled through the trees.
What was the famous "Incline"?
Further up the line, past Roadwater, lies the engineering marvel of the railway: the Combe Row Incline. This was a massive, steep, cable-operated gravity plane that lifted the wagons 340 meters (1,100 feet) up the sheer face of the Brendon Hills. The remains of the incline and the old winding house can still be visited via public rights of way near Gupworthy.
