In 1845, when the
Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER) had recently completed its main line, there were proposals for a number of different and competitive railway schemes in west Somerset. A Bristol and
English Channels Direct Junction Railway was proposed as a link from
Watchet through
Stogumber and
Bishops Lydeard to
Bridport on the south coast, which would be an alternative to ships taking a long and dangerous passage around
Land's End. This prompted the promotion of a connecting line from
Williton to
Minehead and
Porlock, a line designed to attract tourists to
Exmoor. Shortly afterwards, a Bristol and English Channels Connection Railway was suggested from
Stolford to Bridport which would have passed through the
Quantock Hills near
Crowcombe. Alternatively, the Bridgwater and Minehead Junction Railway would link with the B&ER at
Bridgwater and run through Williton to Minehead with a branch to Watchet and a connecting Minehead and Central Devon Junction Railway would provide a line to
Exeter. An alternative link to South Devon was proposed by the Exeter,
Tiverton and Minehead Direct Railway through
Dunster and offered an extension to
Ilfracombe.
West Somerset Railway Company None of these schemes were pursued and it was to be more than ten years before schemes for railways in the area were to be again proposed. On 9 July 1856, local land owner
Sir Peregrine Fuller Palmer Acland of
Fairfield House,
Stogursey arranged a meeting at the Egremont Hotel in Williton. The advertised purpose was to discuss a "Railway from the West Somerset iron-fields and coast, to the Bristol & Exeter Railway," proposed to connect Watchet – then a major port on the River Severn, as well as one of the largest industrial towns in Somerset, although in decline in importance thanks to the railways – to join the B&ER at either the county town of Taunton or the large port town of Bridgwater. The promoters had already approached
Isambard Kingdom Brunel for his views as the former engineer of the B&ER, and by the time of the meeting he had already undertaken a preliminary survey of the alternative routes. There were three alternate options: • The Rev. J. Llewellyn, of Wiveliscombe, suggested a route leaving the existing WSMR at Washford, then passing through Monksilver, Elworthy, Brompton Regis, Ford, Milverton and Hillfarrance, and onwards to the B&ER. • The second and third options bypassed the WSMR, running directly from Watchet to Williton to follow the Donniford valley to Crowcombe, and then either: • To Triscombe and via a tunnel through the Quantock Hills to Bridgewater. The promoters were initially keen to build the tunnel, as the Ironstone in this part of Somerset was similar to that found in South Wales, amongst which were found rich seams of coal • Or directly onwards to Taunton, and via the B&ER to Bridgwater In his contribution, Brunel described the valley of "a little brook called Donniford Brook" as being of prime importance to any route. He had concluded that the starting point should be either Watchet or Porlock, then direct to Williton to follow the Donniford Brook as far as Triscombe. Brunel then gave the initial calculations on the required tunnel to reach Bridgwater, which being 70 to 80 chains in length would require 50 shafts to be sunk, and as it also required approaches with a 1 in 50 gradient, would be very expensive. In his conclusion, Brunel stated his preference as a route from Watchet via Williton to Taunton, stating it to be both cheaper and offering more development options to increase passenger loading. The first meeting had been dominated by people from Minehead, Wiveliscombe and Bridgwater but, on 1 August 1856, a second meeting was held in Taunton. Brunel explained to those present the advantages of the different routes and gave some weight to the argument for a route to Bridgwater with a long tunnel under the Quantocks. He also suggested that the line should be continued to Minehead or Porlock but the meeting resolved to construct a railway only from Taunton to Watchet.
Minehead Railway The
West Somerset Mineral Railway (WSMR) was intended to link the iron-ore mines of the
Brendon Hills with the harbour at Watchet. In 1856, before it was even opened, it was suggested that the WSMR should be extended to Minehead instead of the WSR and the West Somerset Mineral Railway Act 1857 authorising this work was passed on 27 July 1857 but it was never constructed. Instead, the '
(28 & 29 Vict. c. cccxvii) was passed on 5 July 1865 for a new company to build a line from the WSR at Watchet to Minehead. This again failed to be built but a renewed ' (
34 & 35 Vict. c. xcvi) of 29 June 1871 finally saw the construction begin the following year.
Part of the Great Western On 1 January 1876, the B&ER was
amalgamated into the
Great Western Railway (GWR). In 1936, the GWR's chairman, Sir Robert Horne, opened the new £20,000 open-air swimming pool at Minehead.
Run down to closure The GWR was
nationalised, becoming the
Western Region of British Railways on 1 January 1948. Camp coaches made a reappearance in 1952 and were available to the public at both Stogumber and Blue Anchor from 1952 to 1964; the latter were kept on for British Rail staff holidays until 1970. However, Washford signal box was closed in 1952 and Minehead
engine shed was closed in 1956. Norton Fitzwarren station closed on 30 October 1961, after which passengers once again had to travel through to Taunton to change onto trains travelling west. Despite the opening of a
Butlins holiday camp at Minehead in 1962 which brought some 30,000 people to the town that year, the line was recommended for closure in the 1963
Reshaping of British Railways report. Goods traffic was withdrawn from Stogumber on 17 August 1963 and from the other stations on 6 July 1964 after which British Rail transported any goods traffic by road from Taunton.
The Beatles visited the branch on 2 March 1964 to film part of ''
A Hard Day's Night''. They shot a short scene at in which
Ringo Starr and
George Harrison cycle on the platform alongside the train. The train originated at
London Paddington and eventually arrived at Minehead where a large crowd of admirers gathered to see the Fab Four. Minehead signal box was closed on 27 March 1966 after which the two tracks between there and Dunster were operated as two bi-directional single lines, one to each platform. In 1975, after
Butlins Minehead holiday camp decided to modernise and refurbish, it was proposed to extract
LMS Princess Coronation Class 6229 Duchess of Hamilton, purchased by
Billy Butlin in 1966 along with
LB&SCR A1 class Knowle (transported out by road), under an offer made by British Railways. This required a full-time two-week incursion of a permanent way team to clear the line pathway, before
BR Class 25 diesel No.25 059 and a BR brakevan could make a traverse in March 1975. The trackwork of the run round loop of No.1 platform was removed from the upline at , to allow transporter
Pickfords to make a suitable railhead connection to enable release of No.6229
Duchess of Hamilton.
Heritage railway On 5 February 1971, a Minehead Railway Preservation Society organised a meeting in Taunton and a working party headed by Douglas Fear, a local businessman, was tasked with investigating how the line could be reopened as a privately owned railway. In May, a new West Somerset Railway Company was formed to acquire the line and operate a year-round commuter service from Minehead to Taunton alongside which a limited summer steam service could also run. A deal was agreed with
British Rail to purchase the line with the support of
Somerset County Council, however the council was wary of the lucrative Minehead station site falling into private hands should the railway fail. Instead, it purchased the line itself in 1973 and leased back the operational land to the West Somerset Railway Company plc. In 2008, a new
turntable was brought into use at Minehead. A new station opened on 1 August 2009 at Norton Fitzwarren on a new site a short distance north of the main line. During 2007 a regular service ran from Minehead to Taunton and on a couple of days each week. Known as the
Minehead Express, it was aimed at holidaymakers travelling to
Butlins at Minehead. It left Minehead at 11:10 and Bristol at 14:06 with
Victa Westlink's s 31452 and 31454 powering the five coaches. 31128 was available as a spare locomotive but was not used on the service trains. The first of these trains ran on 20 July and operated on a total of 18 days, finishing on 27 August. Whilst the freehold of the line continues to be owned by Somerset County Council, during 2013 it was announced that both the WSRA and the WSR plc had approached the county council about the possibility of purchasing the freehold of the line. The council made the decision in late May 2014 not to sell the freehold after all. A May 2018 county transport strategy acknowledged that there were plans to reintroduce services between Taunton and Minehead. Following an inspection by the
Office of Rail and Road in 2018, it was announced that the railway would close from 2 January 2019, and would reopen on 1 April. The inspection found that several safety improvements needed to be made. The line was suggested in 2019 by Campaign for a Better Transport as a 'priority 2' candidate for reopening as part of the national network. A business case put forward jointly by Somerset Council and West Somerset Railway for infrastructure improvements to enable regular scheduled through-running to Taunton to connect with National Rail services was rejected by the Department for Transport in May 2025. ==Route==