Shrivenham railway station explained

Shrivenham
Status:Disused
Borough:Shrivenham, District of Vale of White Horse
Country:England
Grid Name:Grid reference
Platforms:2
Original:Great Western Railway
Pregroup:GWR
Postgroup:GWR
Western Region of British Railways
Years:17 December 1840
Events:Opened
Years2:7 December 1964
Events2:Closed

Shrivenham railway station was a station on the Great Western Main Line serving the village of Shrivenham in what was then part of Berkshire.

History

The station was about south of the village, on the west side of the B4000 Station Road, south of the Wilts & Berks Canal, and 5.6 miles along the line east of Swindon.[1]

The main station building was built in 1840. It was very small, faced with flint, had Tudor style windows and a roof that projected in the form of a canopy.[2]

On 10 May 1848 six passengers were killed and 13 injured at Shrivenham when two porters pushed a horse-box and cattle van onto the main line to free a waggon turntable. The Exeter express struck them; the locomotive was undamaged but the side of the leading coach was torn out killing six passengers and injuring 13 more.[3]

On 15 January 1936 an express from Penzance, hauled by GWR 6000 Class 4-6-0 No. 6007 King William III, collided with some coal wagons just outside the station that had become detached from an earlier train hauled by GWR 2800 Class 2-8-0 No. 2802. Two people (the male driver and a female passenger) were killed and 10 injured.[4] [5]

On 7 December 1964 British Railways withdrew passenger services from Shrivenham and all other intermediate stations between Didcot and Swindon. The station buildings were demolished in 1965 but remnants of the platforms survived.[6]

References

51.5868°N -1.6585°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mount . A.H.L. . [untitled accident report] ]. Ministry of Transport . 25 February 1936.
  2. Book: Pevsner, Nikolaus . Nikolaus Pevsner . The Buildings of England

    Berkshire

    . 1966 . . Harmondsworth . 218.
  3. Book: Red for Danger . L.T.C. . Rolt . L. T. C. Rolt . Kichenside . Geoffrey . . 4th . 1982 . 1955 . Newton Abbot . 0-7153-8362-0 . 176 . Chapter 8 - Stray Wagons and Breakaways .
  4. Book: Nock . O.S. . O. S. Nock . Cooper . B.K. . Historic Railway Disasters . 4th . 1987 . 1966 . . Shepperton . 0-7110-1752-2 . 130–133.
  5. Book: Vaughan, Adrian . The Great Western at Work 1921-1939 . 1993 . Patrick Stephens Ltd . Yeovil . 1-85260-300-3 . 178–179 .
  6. https://books.google.com/books?id=wJFeAvg-3JsC&dq=shrivenham+former+railway+station&pg=PA82 Burman, Peter & Stratton, Michael Conserving The Railway Heritage p. 82