The Great Western Railway (GWR) 6800 Class or Grange Class was a mixed-traffic class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive, built to replace the GWR 4300 Class 2-6-0. There were 80 in the class, all built at the Swindon works, using some reconditioned parts from withdrawn 4300 Class locomotives.
The GWR locomotive standardisation policy pursued by George Jackson Churchward envisaged a range of locomotive classes which would be suitable for the majority of duties, and yet which would share a small number of standard components. Amongst the designs suggested in 1901 was a 4-6-0 with 5-foot-8-inch diameter driving wheels, and the Standard No. 1 boiler. Although planned in 1901, none were built during Churchward's lifetime. C.B. Collett, rather introduced the Hall class with 6-foot diameter driving wheels.
The 4300 Class of 2-6-0 tender locomotives had been introduced on the GWR for mixed traffic duties in 1911, and by 1932 there were 342 in service. However, by the mid 1930s some of the earlier examples were in need of attention and the class as a whole was struggling with some of the duties expected of them. Collett therefore revived the Churchward proposal but modified the design to include a cab and controls to the current style. The Granges were effectively a smaller-wheeled version of the Hall Class. Between 1936 and 1939, one hundred 4300 Class were taken out of service and replaced by new 4-6-0 locomotives, eighty of which were of the 6800 Grange class, whilst the remaining 20 were of the 7800 Manor class. It had been intended to replace all of the 4300 Class in this way, but the Second World War stopped the programme.
The entire class was withdrawn from service between 1960 and 1965 and no examples were preserved. 6853 Morehampton Grange was a candidate for preservation by the GWS at Didcot, but Manor class 7808 Cookham Manor was purchased instead. However, GWR 6880 Betton Grange, the next Grange that was due to be built originally, was constructed between approximately 2005 and 2023 at the Llangollen Railway and Tyseley Locomotive Works.
