There were certainly deposits of iron-ore at Abbotsbury, in Dorset, and
they were one of the incentives to the building of the Abbotsbury Railway,
opened in 1885. A press report of 1878 refers to 'vast quantities of
oolitic iron' although I don't believe its extraction proved viable.
I can't help on the local landowners though. My interest was in the stone
deposits at Portesham where the landowner was William Mansfield.
Michael Messenger
At 14:17 27/07/03 +0100, you wrote:
>In December 1875 George Greenwell approached the Midland Railway on behalf
>of the Countess Waldegrave and "explained the whole case of the Chewton coal
>and the ironstone at Abbotsbury". At the time the Countess was trying to
>persuade the company to open a branch line to Chewton Mendip in Somerset so
>that it would be worthwhile for her to open a colliery there, but I'm
>puzzled by the reference to ironstone. There's no Abbotsbury near Chewton
>Mendip, and the only alternative I can think of is near Weymouth in Dorset,
>but as far as I know, the Waldegrave family didn't own any land in that
>area. Can anyone offer any suggestions?
>
>Keith Ramsey
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