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These arches are the remains of a "coal drop"; an ingenious device for fuelling steam locomotives.

Rail wagons full of coal were shunted up steep ramps and along the top of the coal drop. Meanwhile, a locomotive drew up below, in front of the arches. Doors in the bottoms of the wagons were opened, dropping coal into wooden hoppers and along iron chutes which directed the coal into the locomotive's tender. This method of loading coal into locomotives saved time and was much easier than doing it by hand.

This coal drop is preserved as part of the Locomotion Railway Museum.