Tramroad Incline at Saundersfoot

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The monument consists of the remains of the incline, part of the Saundersfoot Railway and Harbour Company tramroad constructed to carry coal from local collieries to the harbour. The 4.75 mile long route was authorized by an Act of 1829 and opened in 1832. The incline at gradient of 1 in 5 was its main engineering feature. The incline track was double, with a shared middle rail and a passing loop halfway up. The original rails were cast-iron fish bellied rails laid on stone sleepers at just over 4 feet gauge. This was replaced by steel rails on wooden sleepers in 1874. The incline was self-acting by counterbalance, and the level sections were horse-drawn until locomotives were introduced in the 1870s. The railway closed c1940, following the closure of local mines.

Today, the incline forms the route of a footpath from the Ridgeway to Westfield Road, a distance of approximately 370m. There is a consistent gradient, with level areas at top and bottom. The upper level section is partially embanked and includes the remains of the drum house, a small stone building with walls complete to roof height on three sides and exposed foundations on the fourth. The building housed a counterbalance drum and brake mechanism, together with a working area for the brakesman. Large holding down bolts and beam holes for the drum are visible. A fireplace and window giving a view up the track are in the rear gable. Minor alterations can be traced in the fabric, and fish bellied rails have been re-used as lintols. The track bed of the incline itself appears to have been roughly 5m wide. The upper section is in a cutting which is 5m deep at its greatest, with some revetment walls and relict hedgerows on both sides. The bottom third of the incline in on a shallow embankment. A flat marshalling area at the bottom of the incline crosses a stream by a long masonry culvert.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of 18th and 19th century industrial and transportation practices. The cutting, track bed, drumhouse and embankments may all be expected to contain archaeological information regarding construction techniques and functional detail.

The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is roughly 363m long and 10m wide, including the full widths of the cuttings, embankments, and boundary hedges.