Victorian Great Western Railway train carriage left to rot for nearly 100 years goes up for auction

Branch line! Victorian Great Western Railway train carriage left to rot under trees in field for nearly 100 years goes up for auction for £10,000

  • The Great Western Railway First Class carriage has now gone up for auction with Charterhouse for £100,000
  • Carriage was towed behind a family’s traction engine for use as their living quarters in the early 20th century.
  • It was unearthed around 90 years later in a New Forest field by family member who decided to clear the land 

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A Victorian train carriage which has been left to rot in a field for nearly 100 years has now gone up for auction for £100,000.

The Great Western Railway First Class carriage, which dates back to 1855, was towed behind a family’s traction engine for use as their living quarters in the early 20th century.

After many years of travelling, the carriage was left abandoned in a New Forest field in Hampshire and covered up in a makeshift shed in around 1930. 

However it was finally unearthed around 90 years later by a family member who decided to clear the land. 

The Victorian Great Western Railway First Class carriage, which dates back to 1855, has been unearthed in a field in the New Forest, Hampshire

A step inside the Victorian carriage, which has been left to rot in a field for nearly 100 years, reveals a wooden door and wall

A step inside the Victorian carriage, which has been left to rot in a field for nearly 100 years, reveals a wooden door and wall

The glass on the carriage was smashed by vandals when it was unearthed and a large amount of wood was rotten or missing

The glass on the carriage was smashed by vandals when it was unearthed and a large amount of wood was rotten or missing 

It took three years for the owner, who remembered the carriage being used as a store as a young boy being, to remove the trees and cut through the brambles and the decades of scrap metal and rubbish.

When he finally unearthed to carriage he asked local train enthusiasts around to examine it – which eventually led to its identification.

As a GWR First Class carriage it originally included servant quarters at either end with racks to store luggage on. 

In the 1980s, there was also a person who lived in the carriage when they were homeless, the owner recalled. 

The carriage, which is estimated at £5,000-£10,000, will now go up for auction at Charterhouse during a two-day sale on July 8 and 9 in Sherborne.

Auctioneer Richard Bromell said: ‘Over the decades I have seen the weird and the wonderful but never did I think I would be asked to look at train carriage in the middle of a field.

‘Normally we are asked to sell model railways carriages so this is a first for me as an auctioneer in 36 years.’ 

The carriage, which now requires major restoration and repair, originally included servant quarters at either end with racks to store luggage on

The carriage, which now requires major restoration and repair, originally included servant quarters at either end with racks to store luggage on

It took three years for the owner to remove the trees and cut through the brambles and the decades of scrap metal and rubbish. The roof of the carriage survived as the previous owners had placed corrugated iron sheets on it to protect it

It took three years for the owner to remove the trees and cut through the brambles and the decades of scrap metal and rubbish. The roof of the carriage survived as the previous owners had placed corrugated iron sheets on it to protect it

The Victorian train carriage was finally unearthed after a family member of the previous owner decided it was time to start clearing the land

The Victorian train carriage was finally unearthed after a family member of the previous owner decided it was time to start clearing the land

Pictured: A Great Western Railway carriage which was built in the UK and was one of 12  vehicles ordered for the second railway in New South Wales, Australia, after it was established by the Hunter River Railway Company in 1853

Pictured: A Great Western Railway carriage which was built in the UK and was one of 12  vehicles ordered for the second railway in New South Wales, Australia, after it was established by the Hunter River Railway Company in 1853

The carriage is largely original, although it now requires major restoration, repair and conservation.

The roof survived as the family placed corrugated iron sheets on it to protect it and the bronze fittings remain in place, including  the door handles stamped GWR SWINDON.

However the glass was smashed by vandals when it was unearthed and a large amount of wood is rotten or missing and the floor is collapsing.  

Now the carriage is the only item remaining in the field to be cleared. 

The Great Western Railway was given approval to be built in 1835 in order to provide transport links from Bristol to London.

The line, which was created for speed and efficiency, was designed by engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel – the third child of Marc Brunel, a French émigré engineer.