- Moulsford railway station
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Moulsford Site of Moulsford railway station in September 2009. Viewed from A329 bridge looking south-east towards Goring; parapet of Moulsford Railway Bridge is visible on the curve Location Place Moulsford Area South Oxfordshire Grid reference SU592851 Operations Original company Great Western Railway Pre-grouping GWR Platforms 3 History 1 June 1840 Line opened
Station opened as Wallingford Road2 July 1866 Renamed Moulsford 29 February 1892 Station closed Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom Closed railway stations in Britain
A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–ZMoulsford railway station was on the original route of the Great Western Railway, being one of three intermediate stations provided when the line was extended from Reading to Steventon in 1840.
Contents
History
The Great Western Railway was built and opened in stages. It had opened as far as Reading on 30 March 1840;[1] on 1 June 1840 it was opened to Steventon, with three intermediate stations, the northernmost of which was Wallingford Road;[2] it was possibly named Moulsford originally, being renamed by December 1840.[3]
Wallingford Road station was located on the eastern side of the Reading–Wallingford main road (the present-day A329 road), about a mile to the north of Moulsford village, and slightly further from the village of Cholsey, which lies to the north. Being on the western side of the River Thames it was then in Berkshire; the boundaries were redrawn in 1974 placing the station site two miles inside present-day Oxfordshire.
On 2 July 1866, a branch line to Wallingford was opened by the Wallingford & Watlington Railway, and on the same day Wallingford Road station was renamed Moulsford.[3][4][5] Whilst the junction for the branch was at Moulsford station, the branch line track ran parallel to the main line for three-quarters of a mile before curving away.[6] The Wallingford & Watlington Railway never reached the second-named town, and it was absorbed by the GWR in 1872.[7]
In 1892, during quadrupling of the main line, the junction for Wallingford was resited down the line to the north-west, closer to the point of divergence, and a new station built there.[5] Moulsford station closed on 29 February 1892,[8] being replaced the same day by the new station which was known as Cholsey and Moulsford,[9][10] being significantly closer to Cholsey than to Moulsford. Some of the original station buildings can still be seen at the site of Moulsford railway station.
To the south-east of the former station site is Moulsford Railway Bridge, a stone-faced brick bridge which crosses the River Thames, having four 62-foot (19 m) skew arches.[11]
Routes
Preceding station Disused railways Following station Goring & Streatley Great Western Railway
Great Western Main LineDidcot Terminus Great Western Railway
Wallingford & Watlington RailwayWallingford Notes
- ^ MacDermot, vol. I, part I, p.99
- ^ MacDermot, vol. I, part I, p.102
- ^ a b Butt 1995, pp.165,240
- ^ MacDermot, vol. II, pp.42-43
- ^ a b Mitchell & Smith, fig. 57
- ^ Mitchell & Smith, figs. 57,59
- ^ MacDermot, vol. II, p.43
- ^ Butt 1995, p.165
- ^ MacDermot, vol. II, p.393
- ^ Mitchell & Smith, fig. 58
- ^ MacDermot, vol. I, part I, p.101
References
- Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1 85260 508 1. R508.
- MacDermot, E.T. (1927). History of the Great Western Railway. Vol. I Part I (1st ed.). Paddington: Great Western Railway.
- MacDermot, E.T. (1931). History of the Great Western Railway. Vol. II (1st ed.). Paddington: Great Western Railway.
- Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (March 2002). Reading to Didcot. Western Main Lines. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1 901706 79 6.
External links
Closed railway stations in Oxfordshire Great Western Main Line Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway Churn · Upton and BlewburyCherwell Valley Line Abingdon Junction · Abingdon Road Halt · Bletchington · Fritwell & Somerton · Hinksey Halt · Kidlington · Wolvercot PlatformWitney Railway; East Gloucestershire Railway Alvescot · Brize Norton and Bampton · Carterton · Cassington Halt · Eynsham · Kelmscott and Langford · South Leigh · Witney · Witney (goods) · YarntonWycombe Railway Horspath Halt · Iffley Halt · Littlemore · Morris Cowley · Thame · Tiddington · Towersey Halt · WheatleyWatlington and Princes Risborough Railway Aston Rowant · Chinnor · Kingston Crossing Halt · Lewknor Bridge Halt · Wainhill Crossing Halt · WatlingtonChiltern Main Line Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway Great Central Main Line Varsity Line Banbury to Verney Junction Branch Line Blenheim and Woodstock Branch Line Blenheim and Woodstock · Shipton-on-Cherwell HaltShort branches Categories:- Disused railway stations in Oxfordshire
- Former Great Western Railway stations
- Great Western Main Line
- Railway stations opened in 1840
- Railway stations closed in 1892
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