Foss Cross railway station was on the

Midland and South Western Junction Railway The Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR) was an independent railway built to form a north–south link between the Midland Railway and the London and South Western Railway in England, allowing the Midland and other companies' tr ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) 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. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. The station opened on 1 August 1891 with the section of the line between Cirencester Watermoor and the junction at

Andoversford Andoversford is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England, about east of Cheltenham. The village is on the River Coln, parallel to the A40.The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 555. In 2019 ...

with the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

's Cheltenham Lansdown to

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

line, which had opened in 1881. Foss Cross was an isolated station, and the nearest village was

Chedworth Chedworth is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, southwest England, in the Cotswolds. It is known as the location of Chedworth Roman Villa, administered since 1924 by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beaut ...

, over a mile away, and that petitioned successfully for its own station, which opened just a year later. Other villages such as

Bibury Bibury is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the River Coln, a Thames tributary that rises in the same (Cotswold) District. The village centre is northeast of Cirencester. Arlington Row is a nationally notable arc ...

were up to four miles away. The result was that the station was very lightly used for passenger traffic and towards the end of its life only one passenger a day used it regularly.''Gloucestershire Railway Stations'', Mike Oakley, Dovecote Press, Wimborne, 2003, However, what it lacked in passengers it made up in goods traffic. The station handled much agricultural traffic until the 1930s and there was also a set of sidings leading to stone quarries. Some of the stone was used by the railway, and water from the large water tower at Cirencester Watermoor station was hauled regularly to Foss Cross sidings in rail-mounted tankers to supply the stone crushing equipment located there. Foss Cross station closed to both passengers and goods when the line closed to all traffic in 1961. The main station building and part of the platform remained in 2013, along with a cattle dock, two huts and foundations of the goods shed. Today the platform remains along with two structures (see the picture of this article). The main building is very overgrown but you walk along the tree covered platform and enter via the middle door. Inside are some faded signs on the door and some men's urinals at the far end. The whole area is very overgrown but you can still see the station very clearly.

Route

References

Disused railway stations in Gloucestershire Former Midland and South Western Junction Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1891 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1961 {{Gloucestershire-struct-stub