Charlbury railway station
Encyclopedia
Charlbury railway station is a railway station serving the town of Charlbury
in Oxfordshire
, England
. This station and all trains serving it are operated by First Great Western
. After almost 40 years as a single-platform station, the track through Charlbury station was redoubled with the recommissioning of a second platform on 6 June 2011, as part of the project to improve reliability and increase traffic capacity on the Cotswold Line.
opened the station in 1853. It is notable for the original station building, a wooden chalet
-type structure in the Italianate architectural style
of Isambard Kingdom Brunel
; together with the early station nameboard this is a Grade II listed building restored in 1979. Until 1970, the station was provided with a goods shed
, a 30 cwt
crane
and a 34-lever signal box
. The signal box was demolished when the line through the station was singled on 29 November 1971.
Sir Peter Parker
(1924-2002), the former chairman of the British Railways Board
, was a regular user of the station.
With the completion of the first stage of the redoubling of the Cotswold Line
from to a point east of Charlbury, the reinstated second platform, decommissioned in 1971, entered into service on 6 June 2011.
Charlbury
Charlbury is a small town and civil parish in the Evenlode valley, about north of Witney in West Oxfordshire. It is on the edge of the Wychwood forest and the Cotswolds.-Place name:The origin of the town's toponym is obscure...
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, 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...
. This station and all trains serving it are operated by First Great Western
First Great Western
First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
. After almost 40 years as a single-platform station, the track through Charlbury station was redoubled with the recommissioning of a second platform on 6 June 2011, as part of the project to improve reliability and increase traffic capacity on the Cotswold Line.
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...
opened the station in 1853. It is notable for the original station building, a wooden chalet
Chalet
A chalet , also called Swiss chalet, is a type of building or house, native to the Alpine region, made of wood, with a heavy, gently sloping roof with wide, well-supported eaves set at right angles to the front of the house.-Definition and origin:...
-type structure in the Italianate architectural style
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
of Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
; together with the early station nameboard this is a Grade II listed building restored in 1979. Until 1970, the station was provided with a goods shed
Goods shed
A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before or after carriage in a train.A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, although sometimes they were built alongside a track with possibly just a canopy over the door...
, a 30 cwt
Hundredweight
The hundredweight or centum weight is a unit of mass defined in terms of the pound . The definition used in Britain differs from that used in North America. The two are distinguished by the terms long hundredweight and short hundredweight:* The long hundredweight is defined as 112 lb, which...
crane
Crane (railroad)
A railroad crane, is a type of crane used on a railroad for one of three primary uses: freight handling in goods yards, permanent way maintenance, and accident recovery work...
and a 34-lever signal box
Signal box
On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetable...
. The signal box was demolished when the line through the station was singled on 29 November 1971.
Sir Peter Parker
Peter Parker (British businessman)
Sir Peter Parker KBE LVO was a British businessman, best known as chairman of the British Railways Board from 1976 to 1983.-Early life:...
(1924-2002), the former chairman of the British Railways Board
British Railways Board
The British Railways Board was a nationalised industry in the United Kingdom that existed from 1962 to 2001. From its foundation until 1997, it was responsible for most railway services in Great Britain, trading under the brand names British Railways and, from 1965, British Rail...
, was a regular user of the station.
With the completion of the first stage of the redoubling of 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...
from to a point east of Charlbury, the reinstated second platform, decommissioned in 1971, entered into service on 6 June 2011.