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The Village of GrosmontGrosmont (pronounced 'Grow-mont') takes its name from 'Grandimont' the name of the mother church from where monks came to found a priory near here in 1204, Other than tiny traces of earthworks, nothing remains of the priory. The present village owes its existence to the railway. When Stephenson planned his route in the 1830s, he used the Murk Esk valley as his route southwards. But he had to build a tunnel through Lease Rigg and in so doing accidentally discovered rich deposits of iron. |
| By 1836 the Tunnel Inn, a few cottages, workshops and a warehouse had been erected This cluster of buildings was known simply as Tunnel. As the ironstone was mined, the population grew by the 1870 it was over 1,500 and the village had become known as Grosmont In addition to blast furnaces, there were brick works, lime kilns, stone quarries and whinstone mines: a bustling industrial community with smoke and fumes billowing from chimneys, the roar of furnaces day and night, and the whistling and clanking of trains as they shunted along the many sidings. Today the community is smaller but it still has a love hate relationship with the railway which gave birth to it. |  Grosmont Signal Box |
 'Repton' under the coaling stage |
Esk Valley once supplied the labour force for the nearby ironstone mines, Before the terrace of 24 cottages was built in 1870, there was a unique complex for key workers with living accommodation on the first floor and blacksmith's shop, joiner's, the mine office and a wash house on the lower level. For 100 years the villagers relied entirely on the railway. Food, fuel and everyday necessities were delivered fortnightly by rail. It was only when the villagers raised the cash amongst themselves that a road was built to the village in October 1951. |
| Engine sheds are relatively new to Grosmont In earlier time repairs and maintenance could be carried out at convenient depots anywhere on the rail network. It was only when the line was re-opened by the Railway Trust in the 1970s that there was need for all the workshop and storage facilities of an operational railway to be located here. Visitors can walk to the sheds from Grosmont Station and see many of the activities required to keep the trains running. |  A Boiler overhaul at Grosmont MPD |
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From Multimap
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