Life in 18th and 19th Century Shoreham

 Newspaper Reports continued 5:-

Companies were formed (1834) with a view to funding the London to Brighton railway line. There were two main routes proposed and one of them was the line down to Horsham, Shoreham and on to Brighton. Various reports followed during the subsequent years giving arguments for and against the different routes. Although the Adur Valley route was backed by the renowned railway engineer John Rennie and was the least expensive option requiring no tunnels and less bridges to be constructed the more direct route to Brighton was chosen. It was small consolation for Shoreham that that the branch line from Brighton to Shoreham was to be completed first

1839 The new locomotive ‘Shoreham’ was towed into Shoreham drawn by 14 beautiful horses and conveyed on to Portslade where it was put on the rails to join the other locomotive ‘Brighton’ already working on the line’s construction.

There were a number of fatal accidents among the workers on the Brighton to Shoreham line and many more non fatal – so much so that the contractors for the railway ‘presented an extra ten guineas in consequence of the number casualties that had to be sent to the Sussex County Hospital for treatment.’

(Photo: The ‘Shoreham’ like the ‘Ajax’ pictured here, was built by Jones, Turner & Evans of Warrington)