Burrow Farm Engine House and Beulah Chapel

Burrow Farm Engine House (pictured on the left) is the only surviving engine house building on the Brendons, while Beulah Chapel stands as a prominent reminder of the former mining community of Brendon Hill village

These sites are not included in the West Somerset Mineral Railway Project

Burrow Farm Engine House

This engine house is a rare survival of the Cornish type in Somerset. The ruined building was conserved by Exmoor National Park Authority in 1990.

The Engine House is now on privately owned land, and there is a permitted footpath to the remains of the Engine House along the Mineral Railway track bed from Naked Boy’s Bridge.

Please note that visitors are not permitted during April, and no dogs are allowed on site at any time of the year.

This site can be reached through the public rights of way network. Parking is on the grass verge before Naked Boy Stone (grid reference ST 015 344, ordnance Survey map OL 9)

Mineral Line trackbed between Burrow Farm Engine House and Naked Boy's bridge

Beulah Chapel

The Chapel was built in 1861 to serve the spiritual needs of the Bible Christians, a splinter group of the Wesleyan Methodist church which was founded in North Devon and quickly spread to West Somerset.

Beulah Chapel in 2009 seen from the north east

Now an isolated building, it was then surrounded by Brendon Hill village, which housed more than 250 workers and their families. After the mines closed in 1883 the congregation dwindled and by 1900 it was derelict.

When it re-opened in 1910 the Bible Christians had been amalgamated into the United Methodist Church which still uses it today.

Beulah Chapel can be found at grid reference ST 0276 343 at the point where the B3224 branches off the B3190 and leads west towards Wheddon Cross. The only parking available is only on the verge of the busy B3190 to Bampton.

Safety on the Mineral Line

Visitors are requested to use extreme caution when exploring West Somerset Mineral Railway sites.
Children should be kept under close supervision and should not be allowed to climb on walls or banks.
Take care on uneven ground and on the West Pier.
Stout footwear is strongly advised.

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How to get to Brendon Hill

By bus - Check Traveline SouthWest. Additional bus services for Exmoor

By car - To Ralegh’s Cross Inn: Leave the M5 at Junction 25 (Taunton) and follow the signs to the A358 towards Minehead. Approximately 1 mile after the sign for Bishops Lydeard, turn

left along the B3224 for 8 miles. The Inn is on the left hand side at a crossroads.

On foot - Burrow Farm Engine House can be accessed by a permissive footpath. Ordnance Survey map OL9 covers Exmoor National Park, and includes the Brendon Hills and Watchet. Other maps are also available from most Tourist Information Centres.

The Mineral Line on Google maps