Evercreech Junction railway station
Encyclopedia
Evercreech Junction was a railway station at Evercreech
on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway
.
Originally opened in 1862 as "Evercreech" on the original S&D line from Burnham-on-Sea to Broadstone, it became in 1874 the junction for the northwards extension towards Bath that bankrupted the company. A station opened on the Bath extension more than a mile to the north of Evercreech Junction, much nearer to the village of Evercreech, was called Evercreech Village, and later Evercreech New
.
The junction itself was to the north of the station, where there were also marshalling yards. Branch trains to and from Burnham and Highbridge started and finished at Evercreech in latter years. To the south of the station a level crossing carried the main A371 road
across the line.
In 1963 the station featured in "Branch Line Railway", a BBC
documentary on the Joint Railway presented by John Betjeman
. However, it was closed three years later along with the whole line as part of the Beeching axe
. The station inn was renamed as The Silent Whistle on the closure of the line.
Evercreech
Evercreech is a village and civil parish south east of Shepton Mallet, and north east of Castle Cary, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England...
on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway
Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway
The Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway – almost always referred to as "the S&D" – was an English railway line connecting Bath in north east Somerset and Bournemouth now in south east Dorset but then in Hampshire...
.
Originally opened in 1862 as "Evercreech" on the original S&D line from Burnham-on-Sea to Broadstone, it became in 1874 the junction for the northwards extension towards Bath that bankrupted the company. A station opened on the Bath extension more than a mile to the north of Evercreech Junction, much nearer to the village of Evercreech, was called Evercreech Village, and later Evercreech New
Evercreech New railway station
Evercreech New, originally called "Evercreech Village", was a railway station at Evercreech on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway.The station opened in 1874 with the completion of the extension of the S&D from the nearby Evercreech Junction to Bath...
.
The junction itself was to the north of the station, where there were also marshalling yards. Branch trains to and from Burnham and Highbridge started and finished at Evercreech in latter years. To the south of the station a level crossing carried the main A371 road
A371 road
The A371 is a primary road in England running from Wincanton in Somerset, to Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset.The A371 starts at the A303, then passes Castle Cary, Ansford, Cannard's Grave , Shepton Mallet, Croscombe, Wells, Easton, Somerset, Westbury-sub-Mendip, Rodney Stoke, Draycott, Cheddar,...
across the line.
In 1963 the station featured in "Branch Line Railway", a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary on the Joint Railway presented by John Betjeman
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture...
. However, it was closed three years later along with the whole line as part of the Beeching axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
. The station inn was renamed as The Silent Whistle on the closure of the line.
External links
- http://www.sdjr.net/locations/evercreech.html
- Station on navigable O.S. map
- Part one of "Branch Line Railway" on YouTube, showing the station as filmed in 1962.
- Station remains