September 2025: Bourne’s Great Western Railway, 1846

September’s Object of the Month is an original 1846 edition of J.C. Bourne’s Great Western Railway.  This is a new acquisition into the collection at STEAM.  The book is a history and description of the Great Western Railway between London and Bristol.  At the time the line had only been open for five years in its entirety.  The book also describes the geology along the line, as well as notable antiquities.

The book is a very detailed description of the line.

The book uses illustrations by John Cook Bourne (1818-1896), an artist and engraver.  There are over 40 lithographs included in the book which show stations, bridges, tunnels, engine sheds and track views along the line.  At a time of limited photography this is an excellent record of early Victorian life on the railway.  Not only does Bourne depict travellers, but also workers on the line and in engine sheds.  He also captures workers repairing slips on the embankment at Sonning Cutting.  A landslip had occurred there in 1842 killing nine stonemasons on a train heading west.

Pangbourne Station in Berkshire.  One of the featured lithographs in the book.

Although Bourne is acknowledged for the illustrations in the book he did not write the text.  This is the work of George Thomas Clark (1809-1898), who remained anonymous in this publication.  Clark was an engineer and worked on the construction of the Great Western Railway with Isambard Kingdom Brunel.  He had a detailed knowledge of the line, and through this came to understand the geology of the landscape the line went through.  He also had an interest in antiquities and included a section on churches.  In 1970 a facsimile copy of the book was published, but only included 32 lithographs, and omitted the section on churches.

A detail from St Mary’s Church in Long Wittenham, Berkshire.  This is the smallest monument in England, at just 26 inches long.  The effigy depicts Gilbert de Clare.