The Westbury iron works was near the railway station, which is outside the town. Was the railway line built here for the benefit of the iron works?
In Westbury it was the cutting of the railway line that brought about the iron works, because iron ore was discovered here when the line was being built in 1848. In 1857 the Great Western Iron Ore Smelting Company was formed to extract and smelt the particularly high grade ore at this site. The railway station is some distance from the town because of the need to maintain easy gradients for railway lines without having to build too many embankments. When the line was extended to Warminster in 1851 the line from Chippenham to Westbury then had to ascend the bank at Upton Scudamore and the easiest gradient for this was from the site of the station rather than from the town. Had the first railway line to Westbury been the one from London (east to west instead of north to south) the station may well have been closer to the centre of the town. Although it was built first, the railway line did prove very useful for the iron works during its period of operation from 1857 to 1933, bringing in
