While highly successful as a class the GWR rebuilt some of the Churchward 43xx 2-6-0 mogul type locomotives into 4-6-0 types. The change to a two-axle, four wheel leading truck provided better riding at the higher speeds which were being introduced for secondary passenger and fast goods trains during the 1930s.
The first class produced from these rebuilds was the 68xx Grange. Very similar to the 49xx Hall class locomotives the Granges featured slightly smaller driving wheels, resulting in a distinctive raised footplate section over the cylinders and 80 locomotives were completed between 1936 and 1939. The Granges were too heavy for some important secondary routes, particularly the Cambrian route into Wales, so a lighter version was created using a smaller boiler, 20 locomotives being built in 1938/9 of the 78xx Manor class.
While a number of examples of both the larger wheeled Hall and lighter Manor class have been preserved the entire Grange class was scrapped. A new build project is currently underway to construct the 81st Grange.
6856 Stowe Grange was completed at Swindon in November 1937 and sent new to Wolverhampton Stafford Road shed. The locomotive had been transferred to nearby Oxley by 1950 and moved on to Worcester shed by 1959. Withdrawn from Worcester in November 1965, 6856 was scrapped at Cashmores in Newport.