Brackley railway station
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the London and North Western RailwayLondon and North Western RailwayThe London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
's station. - For the Great Central RailwayGreat Central RailwayThe Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...
's Brackley station, see Brackley Central railway stationBrackley Central railway stationBrackley Central was a railway station on the former Great Central Main Line which ran from Manchester Piccadilly to London Marylebone, the last main line to be built from the north of England to London.- History :...
.
Brackley was a railway station which served the Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
town of Brackley
Brackley
Brackley is a town in south Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Oxford and miles form Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the intersecting trade routes between London, Birmingham and the English Midlands and between Cambridge and Oxford...
in 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 opened in 1850 as part of the Buckinghamshire Railway
Buckinghamshire Railway
The Buckinghamshire Railway was a railway company in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, England that constructed railway lines connecting Bletchley, Banbury and Oxford...
's branch line to Verney Junction
Banbury to Verney Junction Branch Line
The Banbury to Verney Junction Branch Line was a railway branch line constructed by the Buckinghamshire Railway which connected the Oxfordshire market town of Banbury with the Buckinghamshire town of Bletchley via the historic county town of Buckingham and the Northamptonshire town of Brackley, a...
which provided connections to Banbury
Banbury
Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...
, Bletchley and Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and closed in 1963.
History
From 1899 until 1963, Brackley was served by two railway stations on different lines. Brackley CentralBrackley Central railway station
Brackley Central was a railway station on the former Great Central Main Line which ran from Manchester Piccadilly to London Marylebone, the last main line to be built from the north of England to London.- History :...
- opened by the Great Central Railway
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...
- was the second, the Buckinghamshire Railway having already connected the town to the railway in 1850. As the Great Central's station was constructed at the top of the hill upon which Brackley is situated and Buckinghamshire Railway's station at the foot of the hill, locals referred to them respectively as the Top Station and the Bottom Station.
The Buckinghamshire Railway's station was built at the southern end of the main high street and was constructed of a yellow-grey coloured stone. A single loop was enclosed between two-facing platforms, each of a height of 32 inches. A water tower for locomotives was positioned on the roof of a stone shelter situated on the up platform, slowly refilling from a nearby spring. The station's goods shed was built at a right angle to the line where a wagon turntable enabled vehicles to roll into the shed, aided by a slight gradient. A short spur on a severe gradient served the Hopkins and Norris brewery; horses drew the wagons up the gradient to allow them to be returned to the station yard by gravity. The spur (known locally as the "barrel line") fell into disuse in the early 1920s and the rails were lifted by 1935. The station's goods yard was not large, but was capable of accommodating the daily 3 to 12 wagons destined for the gasworks
Gasworks
A gasworks or gas house is a factory for the manufacture of gas. The use of natural gas has made many redundant in the developed world, however they are often still used for storage.- Early gasworks :...
and the 4 to 5 wagons of malt and sugar for the brewery. A cattle dock could take four vans, and a 5-ton capacity crane was stationed in the yard.
The arrival of the Great Central in Brackley saw a great deal of trade ebb away from the branch. The Great Central provided a faster and more direct route to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
; its station enjoyed seven trains a day from Marylebone
Marylebone station
Marylebone station , also known as London Marylebone, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. It stands midway between the mainline stations at Euston and Paddington, about 1 mile from each...
, including an express which took 84 minutes, compared with the line's infrequent two to two service to Euston
Euston railway station
Euston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...
via Bletchley
Bletchley railway station
Bletchley is a railway station that serves the southern districts of Milton Keynes , and the north-eastern parts of the Buckinghamshire district of Aylesbury Vale....
, a three quarter hour journey. The branch line was used to transport bricks for the construction of the Great Central's station, and a new siding was installed near the line's ten mile post.
On 13 May 1950 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
arrived at Brackley station en route to the first official British Grand Prix
1950 British Grand Prix
The 1950 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 May 1950 at the Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, England. It was the fifth British Grand Prix, and the third to be held at Silverstone after motor racing resumed after World War II. It was the first round of the 1950 World...
held at Silverstone
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
. At the last minute it was discovered that the platform would be too low for the Royal Train
British Royal Train
The Royal Train is a set of railway carriages dedicated for the use of the British Monarch, other members of the Royal Family, and their staff. The train enables members of the Royal Family to carry out busy schedules over an extended period, in a secure environment which minimises disruption and...
's exit door and so an old wooden ammunition box had to be found and upended next to the door.
The station was renamed "Brackley Town" on 1 July 1950, but only for goods traffic. The goods yard and through freight traffic ceased on 2 December 1963, nearly three years after the last passenger service had called.
Routes
Present day
All the station buildings have been demolished and the various parts of the site are now occupied by a new road (St. James Road), a grassed area, a police station, an industrial estate and residential housing. The station platforms and site of the goods yard survived until the early 1980s. The approach to the station from Brackley town passed in front of a row of cottages on Bridge Street, and the trackbed has been taken into their gardens. The bridge carrying the main road over the railway has been demolished and the road now crosses on the level. Elsewhere, the trackbed has been taken into Pocket Farm Walk, and a set of steps leading down to the old trackbed can be found at the end of St James Road; the line continues until it is severed by the A43 Brackley BypassA43 road
The A43 is a primary route in the English Midlands, that runs from the M40 motorway near Ardley in Oxfordshire to Stamford in Lincolnshire. Through Northamptonshire it bypasses the towns of Northampton, Kettering and Corby which are the three principal destinations on the A43 route...
.