Bloxham railway station

Bloxham railway station served the village of Bloxham in northern Oxfordshire, England.

Bloxham
Remains of Bloxham Station in 1961
LocationBloxham, Cherwell
England
Grid referenceSP427354
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyBanbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Western Region of British Railways
Key dates
6 April 1887Station opens
4 June 1951Station closes to passengers
4 November 1963Station closes to goods

History

The station was built by the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway, which was taken over by the Great Western Railway before its opening.

The station had two platforms, a passing loop and a signal box of Gloucester Wagon Company design.[1] There was a goods shed and two-siding goods yard.

In 1907 signalling changes were made utilising re-assembled equipment originally from Bays Hill, Cheltenham. Hemmings states[2] that a new signal box was provided in this year, Jenkins[3] dates the box to 1890-5 and suggests that only the frame and locking were installed in 1907.

The station acquired fame in the 1920s for its extensive gardens which included “Lawns, paths and treillage, rose borders and rock gardens”.[4] The gardens were the creation of the Station Master, Herbert Lloyd, and regularly won the GWR Worcester Division garden competition.

By 1938 passenger numbers were small with an average of only two or three tickets per day sold in that year[5] After the outbreak of the Second World War, Bloxham, Hook Norton and Adderbury stations came under the control of a single station-master.

When Britain's railways were nationalised in 1948 the B&CDR became part of the Western Region of British Railways. On 2 June 1951 British Railways withdrew passenger services from the line through Bloxham. On 4 November 1963 BR closed the railway to freight traffic and some time thereafter the line was dismantled.

Film appearances

In 1931 1st Bloxham Scouts produced a film "On the Track" including scenes showing a GWR express seen from the windows of the signal box.[6] No copies of this film are believed to have survived. The documentary film "Twenty-four Square Miles" (1946) includes a scene showing a passenger train departing from Bloxham.

Route
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Hook Norton
Line and station closed		   Great Western Railway
Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway		   Milton Halt
Line and station closed

Notes
  1. Hemmings Vol.1, p.106.
  2. Hemmings Vol.2, p.273.
  3. Jenkins 2004, p.299.
  4. Hemmings Vol.2, p.263.
  5. .Hemmings Vol.2, p.264.
  6. Parry 2008, p.48.

References
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Hemmings, William (2004). The Banbury & Cheltenham Railway Volume One. Didcot: Wild Swan Publications. ISBN 1-874103-88-7.
  • Hemmings, William (2004). The Banbury & Cheltenham Railway Volume Two. Didcot: Wild Swan Publications. ISBN 1-874103-89-5.
  • Jenkins, Stanley; Bob Brown; Neil Parkhouse (2004). The Banbury & Cheltenham Direct Railway. Lydney: Lightmoor Press. ISBN 1-899889-15-9.
  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
  • Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
  • Parry, Trevor (2008). Scouting for Banbury's Boys. Witney: Robert Boyd Publications. ISBN 978-1-899536-91-7.

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