Wootton Bassett railway stations
Encyclopedia
There have been three Great Western Railway
(GWR) stations serving the town of Wootton Bassett
in Wiltshire
, England. The first was Wootton Bassett Road (1840-1841) which was some distance from the town, this was replaced by Wootton Bassett railway station (1841-1903) which was then rebuilt as Wootton Bassett Junction (1903-1965) to coincide with a new route to south Wales.
Great Western Main Line
which was being built in stages from London Paddington station to Bristol
. The railway was extended from to Hay Lane on 17 December 1840. This was about 4 miles (6.4 km) by road east of Wootton Bassett.
Basic locomotive facilities were provided here, and road coaches carried passengers to Bath
, where they could join another GWR train for the remainder of the journey to Bristol. The railway was opened from here to on 31 May 1841 but the temporary station remained in use until 30 June 1841 and the locomotive facilities until sometime the following year.
so that trains could finally run the whole way from London to Bristol. The railway was double track with a platform
on each side of the line and a small stone building on each. The main offices were on the north side of the line but a goods shed
was provided on the south side at the London end of the platform.
In 1873 a signal box
was opened at the west end of the Bristol-bound platform to control trains through the station; up until then signals had been worked independently but they were now all able to be interlocked to prevent conflicting moves. A footbridge was provided from 1880 to allow passengers to cross the tracks, but a road bridge was also available at the east end of the station. June 1874 saw a third rail laid along each track to give a mixed gauge which allowed standard gauge
trains to operate through the station, although broad gauge services to Cornwall
continued to operate until May 1892.
In 1896 an Act of Parliament
was passed to allow the GWR to construct a new Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway, which would shorten the distance from London to south Wales
by about 10 miles (16.1 km). It was to commence from a junction a little west of Wootton Bassett station and run to north of Bristol, from where trains could continue through the Severn Tunnel
.
. New platforms with brick-built buildings were provided. The main offices and goods yard were in nearly the same places as before. There were now two signal boxes, Wootton Bassett West and Wootton Bassett East, which were brought into use in November 1901 and July 1903 respectively.
By the 1930s Wootton Bassett had become a railhead for railway goods traffic to the surrounding district with the GWR basing a country lorry service here, and a new warehouse was provided to support this. In 1931 a siding was opened to service a creamery operated by United Dairies.
The Great Western Railway was nationalised to become the Western Region of British Railways
on 1 January 1948. 19 May 1964 saw the withdrawal of general goods traffic. On 4 January 1965 local passenger services between Swindon and Chippenham were withdrawn, and so Wootton Bassett Junction was closed to passengers also. Coal trains continued to serve the goods yard until 4 October 1965.
The approach road on the south side gives access to a Foster Yeoman
stone distribution depot. The limestone
arrives by train from the Mendip Hills
in Somerset
and a siding serves the depot, alongside a single-ended siding that lies alongside the main line. The connection for these sidings only link with the line to Chippenham, so the stone trains first pass through the station and ran to where the locomotive runs around to the back of the train and then brings it back to Wootton Bassett where it propels it back into the siding to discharge its load.
Both routes are signalled to allow bi-directional running on each line, although trains keep to left-hand running under normal circumstances. A pair of crossovers between the Bristol lines at Wootton Bassett allows trains to be changed between the left and right hand lines if required.
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
(GWR) stations serving the town of Wootton Bassett
Wootton Bassett
Royal Wootton Bassett , informally known as Wootton Bassett, is a small market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 11,043 in 2001...
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, England. The first was Wootton Bassett Road (1840-1841) which was some distance from the town, this was replaced by Wootton Bassett railway station (1841-1903) which was then rebuilt as Wootton Bassett Junction (1903-1965) to coincide with a new route to south Wales.
Wootton Bassett Road
Sometimes referred to as 'Hay Lane' because of its location, the first station nevertheless appeared in timetables as 'Wootton Bassett Road'. It was a temporary terminus of the broad gaugeBroad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
Great Western Main Line
Great Western Main Line
The Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in Great Britain that runs westwards from London Paddington station to the west of England and South Wales. The core Great Western Main Line runs from London Paddington to Temple Meads railway station in Bristol. A major branch of the Great...
which was being built in stages from London Paddington station to Bristol
Bristol Temple Meads railway station
Bristol Temple Meads railway station is the oldest and largest railway station in Bristol, England. It is an important transport hub for public transport in Bristol, with bus services to various parts of the city and surrounding districts, and a ferry service to the city centre in addition to the...
. The railway was extended from to Hay Lane on 17 December 1840. This was about 4 miles (6.4 km) by road east of Wootton Bassett.
Basic locomotive facilities were provided here, and road coaches carried passengers to Bath
Bath Spa railway station
Bath Spa railway station is the principal railway station in the city of Bath, in South West England.-Architecture:Bath Spa station was built in 1840 for the Great Western Railway by Brunel and is a grade II* listed building...
, where they could join another GWR train for the remainder of the journey to Bristol. The railway was opened from here to on 31 May 1841 but the temporary station remained in use until 30 June 1841 and the locomotive facilities until sometime the following year.
Wootton Bassett
The permanent station was opened on 30 July 1841, about 2.5 miles (4 km) west of Hay Lane. This was the same day that the railway was completed through the Box TunnelBox Tunnel
Box Tunnel is a railway tunnel in Western England, between Bath and Chippenham, dug through Box Hill, and is one of the most significant structures on the Great Western Main Line...
so that trains could finally run the whole way from London to Bristol. The railway was double track with a platform
Railway platform
A railway platform is a section of pathway, alongside rail tracks at a train station, metro station or tram stop, at which passengers may board or alight from trains or trams. Almost all stations for rail transport have some form of platforms, with larger stations having multiple platforms...
on each side of the line and a small stone building on each. The main offices were on the north side of the line but a goods shed
Goods shed
A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before or after carriage in a train.A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, although sometimes they were built alongside a track with possibly just a canopy over the door...
was provided on the south side at the London end of the platform.
In 1873 a signal box
Signal box
On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetable...
was opened at the west end of the Bristol-bound platform to control trains through the station; up until then signals had been worked independently but they were now all able to be interlocked to prevent conflicting moves. A footbridge was provided from 1880 to allow passengers to cross the tracks, but a road bridge was also available at the east end of the station. June 1874 saw a third rail laid along each track to give a mixed gauge which allowed standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
trains to operate through the station, although broad gauge services to Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
continued to operate until May 1892.
In 1896 an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
was passed to allow the GWR to construct a new Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway, which would shorten the distance from London to south Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
by about 10 miles (16.1 km). It was to commence from a junction a little west of Wootton Bassett station and run to north of Bristol, from where trains could continue through the Severn Tunnel
Severn Tunnel
The Severn Tunnel is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn....
.
Wootton Bassett Junction
A new station opened on 1 July 1903 to coincide with the opening of the new line, which competed the present day South Wales Main LineSouth Wales Main Line
The South Wales Main Line , originally known as the London, Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway or simply as the Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway, is a branch of the Great Western Main Line in Great Britain...
. New platforms with brick-built buildings were provided. The main offices and goods yard were in nearly the same places as before. There were now two signal boxes, Wootton Bassett West and Wootton Bassett East, which were brought into use in November 1901 and July 1903 respectively.
By the 1930s Wootton Bassett had become a railhead for railway goods traffic to the surrounding district with the GWR basing a country lorry service here, and a new warehouse was provided to support this. In 1931 a siding was opened to service a creamery operated by United Dairies.
The Great Western Railway was nationalised to become the Western Region of British Railways
Western Region of British Railways
The Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound up at the end of 1992...
on 1 January 1948. 19 May 1964 saw the withdrawal of general goods traffic. On 4 January 1965 local passenger services between Swindon and Chippenham were withdrawn, and so Wootton Bassett Junction was closed to passengers also. Coal trains continued to serve the goods yard until 4 October 1965.
Wootton Bassett today
The station buildings have been demolished but the main approach road on the north side of the line is still clearly visible. A loop line allows up trains (those towards London) from the South Wales Direct line to be moved aside while faster trains overtake them; there is no connection to this loop from the Bristol line.The approach road on the south side gives access to a Foster Yeoman
Foster Yeoman
Foster Yeoman Limited, based in the United Kingdom, is one of Europe's largest quarrying and asphalt companies, owned by Swiss construction materials conglomerate Holcim.-Company history:...
stone distribution depot. The limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
arrives by train from the Mendip Hills
Mendip Hills
The Mendip Hills is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running east to west between Weston-super-Mare and Frome, the hills overlook the Somerset Levels to the south and the Avon Valley to the north...
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
and a siding serves the depot, alongside a single-ended siding that lies alongside the main line. The connection for these sidings only link with the line to Chippenham, so the stone trains first pass through the station and ran to where the locomotive runs around to the back of the train and then brings it back to Wootton Bassett where it propels it back into the siding to discharge its load.
Both routes are signalled to allow bi-directional running on each line, although trains keep to left-hand running under normal circumstances. A pair of crossovers between the Bristol lines at Wootton Bassett allows trains to be changed between the left and right hand lines if required.