Newbridge Ironstone Quarry

Overview

A Northamptonshire ironstone working between Slipton and Twywell, operated by Thomas Walters from 1867 and then the Newbridge Iron Ore Co. from 1873, part of the wider 19th-century ironstone-quarrying boom around Woodford and Twywell.

History

Newbridge Ironstone Quarry worked ironstone ground between Slipton Lane and the lane to Twywell village, in the Woodford area of Northamptonshire. It was operated by Thomas Walters from 1867, and then by the Newbridge Iron Ore Co. from 1873. The wider Woodford/Twywell district saw a substantial ironstone boom through the second half of the 19th century: the local Arbuthnot family had already begun digging iron ore on their own estate from around 1851 -- a sample was exhibited at the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park that same year -- and the opening of the Kettering to Thrapston railway in 1866, with a connecting tramway to Twywell, gave quarries across the district, including Newbridge, an economical route to market. Quarrying in the wider area continued into the 1880s.

Geology

Northampton Sand ironstone between Slipton and Twywell.

Workings

Worked ironstone ground between Slipton Lane and the lane to Twywell village, served by a tramway connecting to the Kettering-Thrapston railway (opened 1866) at Twywell.

Closure

The closure date is not known; the wider Woodford/Twywell ironstone district continued quarrying into the 1880s.

What remains

The site's present condition is not known.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Newbridge Ironstone Quarry was operated by Thomas Walters from 1867 and then the Newbridge Iron Ore Co. from 1873, working ground between Slipton Lane and the lane to Twywell village. ¹
• The Kettering to Thrapston railway opened in 1866 with a connecting tramway to Twywell, giving district quarries an economical route to market; the local Arbuthnot family had already begun digging ironstone from around 1851, a sample being shown at the 1851 Great Exhibition. ²
• The Historic Environment Record centres the Twywell quarries at SP 9586 7856 and treats the Newbridge Iron Ore Company's ground between Slipton Lane and the lane to Twywell as the nineteenth-century quarry (monument 8463/1) that preceded John Young's Twywell quarries, worked from 1905-06 to 1916, then by the Cargo Fleet Iron Co. from about 1920 to 1924 and by South Durham Steel and Iron from October 1963 to 24 October 1969. ¹
• Quarries on the east side of Twywell were at work by 1884, their ore carried to the railway east of Twywell station by a cable-worked tramway; they reopened in 1906 with a new 2 ft 3 in cable-worked tramway on a similar route. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) 8464/1/2 - Twywell Quarries — Northamptonshire Historic Environment Record
2. (secondary) Woodford, Northamptonshire — Wikipedia
3. (secondary) Twywell (Wikipedia) — Wikipedia

Record created: 31 August 2026 · Last researched: 24 September 2026