West Somerset Mineral Railway - Watchet Harbour

Watchet Harbour

Although the outward terminal of the line was to be the quay at Watchet, the pier had been practically unusable for some considerable time, and boats were beached and loaded direct from carts brought on to the foreshore. After considerable public pressure, the Watchet Harbour Act was passed in 1857, placing it under the control of Commissioners; they built a new east pier and rebuilt the west pier; the work was finished in 1862, and 500 ton vessels could enter the harbour. The WSMR used the west pier, and the newly arrived West Somerset Railway, a branch from the Bristol and Exeter Railway, used the east pier.

(The West Somerset Railway opened on 3 March 1862; it was a broad gauge line, and did not, at that time, run beyond Watchet. Although a connection with the WSMR was suggested, involving laying of mixed gauge on the Mineral line, this never took serious shape.)