In Surrey we have in a flooded underground stone quarry what appears to be a historically out of place feature. The workings we had always assumed to have been abandoned when a drainage level ceased to function (through accidental or deliberate blockage) in 1820. However, several divers have reported seeing what appear to be wooden railway sleepers used as supports for the roof at an unstable location.
Can anyone advise me on when wooden railway sleepers first came into general use in the UK, either above or below ground? It is possible, of course, that these timbers only resemble sleepers in size and shape. However, the debris-covered floor of the flooded main haulage gallery does show what appear to be the slots that would have been left by a sleepered railway having been removed.
Peter Burgess
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