Adlestrop railway station
Encyclopedia
Adlestrop railway station was a railway station serving the village of Adlestrop
in Gloucestershire
, England
. It was on what is now called the Cotswold Line
. The station was immortalised by the poet
Edward Thomas
when his train made an unscheduled stop there shortly before the First World War.
(OW&W) opened the station in 1853. The line through Adlestrop was originally mixed gauge
single track with a broad gauge passing loop, but broad gauge trains never used it after the inspection train ran over it two days before opening. In 1858 the track was doubled.
In 1860 the OW&W became part of the West Midland Railway, which in 1863 was absorbed by the Great Western Railway
. It then passed on to the Western Region of British Railways
after nationalisation in 1948
. British Rail
ways closed Adlestrop to goods traffic in 1963 and passenger traffic in 1966.
Trains on the Cotswold Line pass the site in the Evenlode Valley
. The station house is now a private home, but the trackside buildings were removed some years ago. A bench bearing a plaque with Edward Thomas's poem engraved on it was transferred to a bus shelter in the village.
Adlestrop
Adlestrop is a village and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire. It is known as Tedestrop in the Domesday Book.The civil parish also includes the village of Daylesford...
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It was on what is now called the Cotswold Line
Cotswold Line
The Cotswold Line is an railway line between and in England.-Route:The line comprises all or part of the following Network Rail routes:*GW 200 from Oxford*GW 310 from Wolvercot Junction*GW 300 from Norton Junction*GW 340 from Worcester Shrub Hill...
. The station was immortalised by the poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Edward Thomas
Edward Thomas (poet)
Philip Edward Thomas was an Anglo-Welsh writer of prose and poetry. He is commonly considered a war poet, although few of his poems deal directly with his war experiences. Already an accomplished writer, Thomas turned to poetry only in 1914...
when his train made an unscheduled stop there shortly before the First World War.
History
The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton RailwayOxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton railway was a company authorised on 4 August 1845 to construct a railway line from the Oxford and Rugby Railway at Wolvercot Junction to Worcester, Stourbridge, Dudley, and Wolverhampton, with a branch to the Grand Junction Railway at Bushbury...
(OW&W) opened the station in 1853. The line through Adlestrop was originally mixed gauge
Dual gauge
A dual-gauge or mixed-gauge railway has railway track that allows trains of different gauges to use the same track. Generally, a dual-gauge railway consists of three rails, rather than the standard two rails. The two outer rails give the wider gauge, while one of the outer rails and the inner rail...
single track with a broad gauge passing loop, but broad gauge trains never used it after the inspection train ran over it two days before opening. In 1858 the track was doubled.
In 1860 the OW&W became part of the West Midland Railway, which in 1863 was absorbed by the Great Western Railway
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...
. It then passed on to 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...
after nationalisation in 1948
Transport Act 1947
The Transport Act 1947 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Under it the railways, long-distance road haulage and various other types of transport were acquired by the state and handed over to a new British Transport Commission for operation...
. British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
ways closed Adlestrop to goods traffic in 1963 and passenger traffic in 1966.
The site today
River Evenlode
The River Evenlode is a river in England which is a tributary of the Thames in Oxfordshire. It rises near Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire in the Cotswold Hills and flows south-east passing near Stow-on-the-Wold, Charlbury, Bladon, and Cassington, and its valley provides the route of the southern...
. The station house is now a private home, but the trackside buildings were removed some years ago. A bench bearing a plaque with Edward Thomas's poem engraved on it was transferred to a bus shelter in the village.