Eynsham railway station

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Coordinates: 51°46′35″N 1°22′43″W / 51.77644°N 1.37874°W / 51.77644; -1.37874
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Eynsham
Witney Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Key dates
14 November 1861 (1861-11-14)Opened
May 1944Passing loop and second platform built
18 June 1962Closed to passengers
26 April 1965Closed to goods
2 November 1970Line closed

Eynsham railway station served the Oxfordshire town of Eynsham and the Eynsham Sugar Beet Factory on the Oxford, Witney and Fairford Railway between Oxford and Witney.

History

The

Cotswold stone goods shed stood at the Fairford end of the platform, a few yards from the signal box.[4][7]

The station had a goods yard that handled significant goods traffic. It had two

Colonial Development Corporation, then the premises of J. Harding (Eynsham) and finally a depot for British Leyland.[5][9][10]

In May 1944 a 22-chain (440 m) passing loop and second platform and platform were added to the station, increasing capacity on the single-track line for troop and armaments movements in preparation for the Normandy landings. The loop and platform were on the Down side, and the original became the Up platform.[4][5][11] The station also handled agricultural traffic and wagonloads of bones for the local glue factory.[4] At the Oxford end of the station was a level crossing where the line crossed the Stanton Harcourt road.[4]

Armed robbery

In the early hours of Monday 5 December 1927 two armed and masked thieves, Frederick Browne and William Kennedy, held up the station.

PC Gutteridge, in Essex in September 1927; Kennedy was also wanted, as Browne's accomplice.[12] Browne drove along the line from near South Leigh to Eynsham.[12] There a porter, Frederick Castle, arrived by motorcycle, discovered the thieves and challenged them. They held Castle at gunpoint and tied him to a chair in the stationmaster's office.[12] Castle had no key to the safe so Browne and Kennedy tried unsuccessfully to detach it from the floor.[12] They moved Castle from the stationmaster's office to the building housing the ground frame, then escaped with tobacco and the stationmaster's typewriter.[13] Both were arrested the following January and, after trial at the Old Bailey, were hanged in May 1928 for the murder of PC Gutteridge.[13]

Closure

The Western Region of British Railways closed the station to passenger traffic on 18 June 1962 and to goods on 26 April 1965.[1][2][3][14] An enthusiasts' special organised by the Locomotive Club of Great Britain called at the closed station in April 1970.[15] BR closed the line to goods traffic on Monday 2 November 1970, after which the local council asphalted over the level crossing "with almost indecent haste".[16]


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
South Leigh
Line and station closed 		 
Witney Railway
   Cassington Halt
Line and station closed

The site since closure

A section of the trackbed between Eynsham and the

Great Western Society and is now at Didcot Railway Centre.[15][18][19] The goods shed survived until 1987 as a scenery workshop for the Oxford Playhouse.[17][19][20]

The station has been proposed for reopening or a site to the north of the town as part of a project to restore the railway to Carterton via Witney, as well as to serve a new proposed settlement called Salt Cross Garden Village. The new site would also be next to a proposed park and ride site.[21][22]

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b Butt (1995), p. 93.
  2. ^ a b Quick (2009), p. 168.
  3. ^ a b Clark (1976), Eynsham.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Jenkins (1985), p. 83.
  5. ^ a b c d Simpson (1997), p. 173.
  6. ^ a b c d Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), fig. 23.
  7. ^ Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), fig. 24.
  8. ^ Jenkins (1985), p. 62.
  9. ^ Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), fig. 22.
  10. ^ a b Crossley & Elrington (1990), pp. 127–142.
  11. ^ Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), fig. 25.
  12. ^ a b c d e Jenkins (1985), p. 63.
  13. ^ a b Jenkins (1985), p. 65.
  14. ^ Clinker (1988), p. 46.
  15. ^ a b c d Stretton (2006), p. 83.
  16. ^ Jenkins (1985), p. 120.
  17. ^ a b Waters & Doyle (1992), p. 95.
  18. ^ Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), fig. 31.
  19. ^ a b Jenkins (1985), p. 146.
  20. ^ Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), fig. 28.
  21. ^ Miranda Norris (2 February 2022). "Campaigners welcome fresh hope for Oxford to Witney railway". Witney Gazette. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  22. ^ "About Witney Oxford Transport Group". Witney Oxford Transport Group. Retrieved 9 February 2022.

Sources

External links
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