Middleton Top Engine House

This 19th-century stationary railway winding engine house is the last survivor of eight similar engine houses that served the Cromford & High Peak Railway, to drag wagons by rope up inclines that were too steep for locomotives to obtain sufficient grip.

The engine house still contains its original pair of beam engines, built by the Butterley Company in 1829, together with its two boilers and an imposing chimney.

The Cromford & High Peak Railway Company was completed in 1831 to link the Cromford Canal with the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge. The biggest hurdle the engineers had to overcome was the incline of 1,000 feet between the two canals. 

No locomotives could climb the steeply inclined rails needed to achieve the required height gain in such a short distance. The chosen solution to the problem was to use a series of steam-powered inclined planes with rope haulage linking long, nearly level sections of line.

When the line opened there were eight inclines employing steam-winding engines to haul wagons up and down. Each incline was equipped with double track to enable wagons to be moved in both directions at the same time. This improved economy of operation as the weight of up-going wagons were largely balanced by those down-going.

The winding engine at Middleton Top was the third one from the beginning of the line at High Peak Wharf on the Cromford Canal. The first two inclines achieved rises of 204 feet and 261 feet and Middleton lifted the line a further 253 feet to nearly 1,000 feet above sea level. This was achieved in the distance of three and a half miles. It is so steep that, although it is currently used as a popular cycle track, cyclists are advised to dismount and not ride down the incline.

This incline ceased working in 1963 and, after the closure of the rest of the line  in 1967, part of the route, including Middleton Top engine house was acquired by the local authority, Derbyshire County Council. The engine was restored by the Middleton Engine Group  charity and the engine house and the 1 in 8 incline are now a scheduled ancient monument.

Besides the fascinating pair of beam engines, which are shown working several times per year, Middleton Top engine house also contains a collection of other items relating to the Cromford & High Peak line and to the winding engine. Adjacent to the building is the engine keeper’s house and one of the mineral wagons used on the line. About a mile west of the engine house is the rusting remains of a more modest winding engine used to haul wagons up from a local quarry to join the main line.