Bason Bridge railway station was a station on the Highbridge branch of the

Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, also known as the S&D, SDJR or S&DJR, was an English railway line connecting Bath (in north-east Somerset) and Bournemouth (now in south-east Dorset but then in Hampshire), with a branch from Evercreec ...

, serving the village of

East Huntspill East Huntspill is a village and civil parish on the Huntspill Level, near Highbridge, Somerset, England. The civil parish includes Cote, Hackness and Bason Bridge. The parish of East Huntspill has a population of 1,146. History Huntspill was l ...

. Opened by the Somerset Central Railway in 1856, the station consisted of a wooden platform and buildings. A level crossing, goods yard and dedicated siding for

milk train Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

to the Wiltshire United Co-operative Society's

creamery A creamery is a place where milk and cream are processed and where butter and cheese is produced. Cream is separated from whole milk; pasteurization is done to the skimmed milk and cream separately. Whole milk for sale has had some cream re ...

, were operated from two

lever frame Mechanical railway signalling installations rely on lever frames for their operation to interlock the signals, track locks and points to allow the safe operation of trains in the area the signals control. Usually located in the signal box, the ...

s, one at each end of the station. The station closed with the SDJR on 7 March 1966, although access to the dairy was maintained via a spur from Highbridge. In the months before closure, goods trains loaded with

fly ash Fly ash, flue ash, coal ash, or pulverised fuel ash (in the UK) plurale tantum: coal combustion residuals (CCRs)is a coal combustion product that is composed of the particulates (fine particles of burned fuel) that are driven out of coal-fired ...

tipped at the construction site of the

M5 motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

to enable it to progress across the

Somerset Levels The Somerset Levels are a coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England, running south from the Mendip Hills, Mendips to the Blackdown Hills. The Somerset Levels have an area of about and are bisected by the Polden Hills; the areas to ...

. Progress on construction of the motorway finally closed the spur line on 3 October 1972. The station site was later cleared, but the station house survived as a private house. The roof of the station house caught fire on the 10th of April 2020 and the property was subsequently demolished.

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20070518103011/http://www.sdjr.net/locations/bason_bridge.html
Station on navigable O.S. map
{{coord, 51.2077, -2.9377, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Disused railway stations in Somerset Former Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1856 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1966 Beeching closures in England