Group    From 26/7/1803  To 1846

Surrey Iron Railway Company

Categories: Transport

The first public railway in England, probably the first in the world.

A transport system from London to Portsmouth was needed, either a canal or a tramway. The engineer William Jessop, recommended a tramway. He was given the job to build the first phase, from the Thames at the Ram Brewery in Wandsworth to Croydon, closely following the River Wandle which was already heavily industrialised. This began in 1801 and the route of nearly 9 miles was completed together with the Wandsworth Basin so it was opened 1803.  

An extension to Godstone was authorised but only actually reached Mestham. This operated from 1805, making the entire route 18 miles long. Portsmouth was never reached.

This early rail-way consisted of rails, with a gauge of 4' 2", on cast iron plates laid on stone sleepers. The goods waggons were pulled by horses. The rails meant that a single horse could pull much more than its usual load so the system was very efficient, but not as good as steam locomotive railways and the SIR closed in 1846.  The Croydon Tramlink today uses much of the old SIR route.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Surrey Iron Railway Company

Commemorated ati

Surrey Iron Railway Company - Croydon, Reeves Corner

Surrey Iron Railway Company 1801 {At the centre is an image of a draped femal...

Read More

Surrey Iron Railway Company - Wandsworth

Surrey Iron Railway Company 1801 {At the centre is an image of a draped femal...

Read More

Other Subjects

Clapham Junction rail disaster

Clapham Junction rail disaster

At 8.10 a.m. a crowded passenger train from Basingstoke heading for London Waterloo, crashed into another train that had stopped at a signal. A further empty train travelling in the opposite direct...

Event, Tragedy, Transport

1 memorial
Private William Henry Richter

Private William Henry Richter

William Henry Richter was born on 4 February 1898, the son of Joseph Richter (1863-1937) and Alice Richter née Griffin (1864-1923). His birth was registered in the 1st quarter of 1898 in the Maryle...

Person, Armed Forces, Transport, Belgium

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Harndale Group

Harndale Group

Harndale Shipmanagement Services Limited was one of several companies formed by Keshava Raghuveer and Harini Raghuveer. It was incorporated on 31 January1984 with a company registration number of 0...

Group, Benefactor, Commerce, Transport

1 memorial
Red Cross Street

Red Cross Street

Used to run from the Beech Street / Golden Lane junction, where there was a red cross, due south to St Giles Cripplegate at Fore Street.   Londonist have found a map that shows the Barbican overlai...

Place, Transport

1 memorial