Ashby de la Zouch railway station is a former railway station at Ashby de la Zouch in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

on the

Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nati ...

. The Midland Railway opened it in 1849 and

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

closed it in 1964. The station is a small Neoclassical building, with side pavilions and

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

columns in keeping with the nearby Royal Hotel of 1826. It is a Grade II* listed building.

History

The Midland Railway opened the station on 1 August 1849 as part of its new line between and . The station was built partly on the remains of the horse-drawn Ticknall Tramway, which previously connected Ticknall lime quarries with the

Ashby Canal The Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal is a long canal in England which connected the mining district around Moira, just outside the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, with the Coventry Canal at Bedworth in Warwickshire. It was opened in 1804, ...

. In 1874 the Midland extended its Derby to Melbourne line to Ashby de la Zouch, partly using the route of the former Ticknall Tramway. The junction with the Leicester to Burton-on-Trent line was just west of Ashby station, so for a time the branch was served by a separate station a short distance from the 1849 building. Ashby station forecourt was also a terminus for the gauge Burton and Ashby Light Railway, a tramway between Ashby and Burton upon Trent, built by the MR and closed on 19 February 1927. Tram lines for the Burton and Ashby Light Railway are still visible in the forecourt. The line became part of the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

under the

Grouping Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...

of 1923. In the nationalisation of transport in Britain in 1948 the line passed to the London Midland Region of British Railways.

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

ways withdrew passenger services and closed Ashby station on 7 September 1964. The line continues to be used by freight services.

Stationmasters

*Ebenezer Weston ca. 1851 *Botterell Jordan until 1862 *William E. Oldham 1862 - ca. 1866 *John Joseph Mumford 1870 - 1873 *Alfred Everett 1873 - 1908 *Thomas William Coltman 1908 - 1922 *William Cope 1922 - 1931 (formerly station master at Duffield) *A.H. Glastonbury 1931 - 1937 (formerly station master at Denby) *W. Slater from 1937

Reopening proposals

In the 1990s BR planned to restore passenger services between Leicester and Burton as the second phase of its Ivanhoe Line project. However, after the privatisation of British Rail in 1995 this phase of the project was discontinued. In 2009 the

Association of Train Operating Companies The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), previously the Association of Train Operating Companies, is the British rail industry membership body that brings together passenger and freight rail companies, Network Rail and High Speed 2. History From 24 Oc ...

published a £49 million proposal to restore passenger services to the line that would include reopening a station at Ashby. In 2018 the Campaign for the Reopening of the Ivanhoe Line (CRIL) – a community voluntary action group – was set up with the aim of restoring passenger services to the Burton to Leicester railway line. Although CRIL's aims include a station at Ashby, its exact location has not yet been defined, as the Ashby station building is now privately owned as the company headquarters of Bluesky International Limited.

Notes

References

* *
Station on navigable O.S. map

External links

*http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashby De La Zouch Railway Station Former Midland Railway stations Disused railway stations in Leicestershire Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1964 Grade II* listed buildings in Leicestershire Grade II* listed railway stations Beeching closures in England Proposed railway stations in England Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1849 Ashby-de-la-Zouch