Clarence Railway Company

The Clarence Railway was initially known as the Tees & Weardale Railway and changed its name to the Clarence Railway in 1828. It was projected to be a direct line to the Auckland coalfield and potential branches to the West Durham collieries, eventually running from Coxhoe to Port Clarence. The railway was championed by Christopher Tennant, who felt that the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR)’s extension to Middlesbrough would be to Stockton’s disadvantage. The Clarence Railway’s Directors included Henry Vansittart, Robert Appleby, Henry Blanchard, W. Skinner and W.H. Skinner amongst others.

Despite a precarious progress through Parliament, the Clarence Railway gained Royal Assent in 1828 and the line opened in stages between 1833 and 1835. Steam traction was first put into operation in 1838 and in 1844 the local engineering firm of Hackworth & Fossick was engaged to provide haulage. Despite being a more direct route than the S&DR, the Clarence Railway was undermined by the levy that the S&DR placed on coal traffic on the joint sections of line that the Clarence shared with the S&DR for part of its length. The Clarence Railway managed to extend beyond its original route to open branch lines, eventually linking up with the West Durham Railway in Byers Hill, but this move further bolstered the opposition from the S&DR.

In 1844, the Clarence Railway was leased to the Stockton & Hartlepool Railway. It was then absorbed by the West Hartlepool Harbour Railway, which was subsequently merged into the North Eastern Railway in 1865.