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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 ----------------------------------------- Michael Messenger [log in to unmask] http://www.twelveheads.com/ -----------------------------------------