Butterley Gangroad Project Study of early maps of the Fritchley Tunnel January 2013 Project file 1030 Early small scale maps that show the Butterley Gangroad (Greenwood 1 26, Sanderson 1 35 and OS 1 39) suggest that there were then two road crossings of the railway in Fritchley. The northern one could have ,een a level crossing the southern one seems very short and might in fact ,e a ,ridge, as mentioned ,y Farey in 1 17. .nside the tunnel there is a definite /0in01and the alignment curves, the southernmost section loo0s to ,e of different construction. 2as this originally a ,ridge that was e3tended to the north as a cut and cover tunnel when the road layout was altered4 This e3ercise was made in order to test this possi,ility. 1 BG2B0009 1880 OS M P N.B. Simplified, only the two ,uildings near to the tunnel are shown. The ,ase map is a plan of the area made ,y tracing the first large scale OS 25 inches to 1 mile map of 1 0. The relationship of the railway and the tunnel to the road remains the same today. An important feature is that one can see that the line must curve inside the tunnel. The drive to Riverside Cottage is shown as a road and the road to the east of the line is a large area with unfenced roadways crossing it. Note also that the southern portal of the tunnel is away from the roadside, so if the south end of the tunnel was originally a ,ridge then the road would have to have moved north to its present alignment. 2 BG2B0009 1849 Tithe map 9 These areas are shown as part of the highway Orchard, Joseph Lynam :ouse and garden, Thos. Bower 9 (Detail not noted here) 9 :ouse, Samuel Leam N.B. Simplified, /Far Ruefield1 meadow, only the two /Croft1 Samuel Leam ,uildings near to the pasture, tunnel are shown. J.Leam The 1 49 Tithe map showed the old alignment. The tunnel is still in the same position ,ut the line is straight (my tracing is not perfect here=). Of interest is the fact that the Drying Ground and the drive to Riverside Cottage are shown as highway. .t shows that some time after 1 49 the railway has ,een re-aligned and the tunnel modified. 3 BG2B0009 1845 Midland Proposed Crich Railway Railway /tramway past Fritchley1 The proposed railway would /land over have used the tunnel alignment tunnel1 with the rail surface 13 feet ,eneath the road. N.B. Simplified, only one ,uilding near to the tunnel is /tramway1 shown. The plan for the proposed Crich ,ranch prepared ,y the Midland Railway shows the layout as on the Tithe Map (see inset). .t can ,e seen that the Gangroad has ta0en the route of the MR proposal later. The MR proposal would perhaps have involved the tunnel ,eing replaced ,y a ,ridge, whereas what actually happened was that the tunnel was curved so that the Gangroad could pic0 up this alignment. 4 BG2B0009 1835 Sanderson Map Map roughly superimposed on the 1 45 plan The earlier maps were all drawn to a very small scale and unli0e later maps that were reduced from large scale plans on used a rudimentary form of surveying. Only 0ey points were fi3ed and the topography ,etween was literally s0etched in ,y eye. So one cannot e3pect the positions of roads etc. to match very well at this level of detail. The early maps have ,een enlarged and then superimposed on our ,ase map. The Sanderson map (inset) if anything shows the tunnel longer than it should ,e and the road layout is a reasona,le match. 5 BG2B0009 '1839( OS Map Detail from surveyor‘s original 2 inch to 1 mile sketch Map roughly superimposed on the 1 45 plan The first one inch OS map shows the tunnel at the present length when superimposed and the position of roads is a reasona,le match. have used the surveyorAs s0etch (inset) rather than the map itself. This survey drawing was made in 1 37. So ,y enlarging the early map to this scale one can see that there is no evidence for the tunnel having ,een a ,ridge at this time. 6 BG2B0009 1826 Greenwood Map Map roughly superimposed on the 1 45 plan The 1 26 Greenwood map is much more s0etchy ,ut still shows the same layout of roads. Perhaps of most significance is the fact that he shows the southern end of the tunnel emerging clear of the road. On this ,asis the tunnel was where it is now in 1 26. .t has ,een altered, ,ut only at its southern end to ta0e up the present alignment which follows the route proposed for the MR Crich ,ranch. This happened sometime after 1 49. E3amination of the Enclosure Map and Award and local land sales and lease agreements may give evidence of the history of the tunnel prior to 1 26. 7 BG2B0009.