Grimstone geograph-3583273-by-Ben-Brooksbank

Grimstone and Frampton railway station was a station on the Wiltshire, Somerset & Weymouth Railway, part of 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 ...

between Maiden Newton and Dorchester. It was in the hamlet of Grimstone which was in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Stratton but also relatively close to the parish of Frampton which it was also intended to serve. It was directly south of

Grimstone Viaduct The Grimstone Viaduct is a railway bridge on the Castle Cary- Weymouth "Heart of Wessex" line in Dorset, England. It is directly north of the site of Grimstone and Frampton railway station, in the hamlet of Grimstone at the western edge of th ...

. When the line opened on 20 January 1857 it was called Frampton Station but in July 1857 it changed name to Grimstone Station and in July 1858 it was renamed again to its final name of Grimstone and Frampton Station. The station became unstaffed from 11 April 1966 and closed on 3 October 1966. Refer to Mike Oakley's booklet for more details. A fatal accident occurred on Saturday 16 May 1914 when a watercress seller named Carter was killed at the station. If had been customary for him to gather watercress which was grown on the

Sydling Water The Sydling Water is an long river in Dorset, England, which flows from north to south from Up Sydling until it joins the River Frome near Grimstone. The source of the river is a spring at Up Sydling. It passes the deserted mediaeval vill ...

and then return to Dorchester to sell it. He arrived at 4:40 and was apparently to return on the 5:12 train. He left his empty baskets on the down platform and crossed to the up platform via the footbridge. Then as the 4:38 express from Weymouth passed through at 4:57 he walked onto the line and was killed instantly, despite the express sounding warning whistles as it approached the station. An inquest was held on the Monday at which it emerged that he had not gathered any watercress and despite what he had said he had not forwarded any to Dorchester. The jury recorded a verdict that he was accidentally knocked down. He was always referred to as Carter and no one knew his Christian name. However a postcard was found which had the initial F on it. His age was unknown but estimated to be about 50 and he was thought to have a sister in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

. He had lodged at a public house in Dorchester for some years. He was buried at Stratton Church on Tuesday 19 May 1914. The station master was Thomas Charles Olding, the engine driver was Albert Clifton Webb. The express resumed its journey after an 11-minute delay.

The site today

The station was demolished after closure and the site is now a depot for Minster Fuels.

References

External links

Stratton Village website
Disused railway stations in Dorset Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1857 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1966 Beeching closures in England 1857 establishments in England {{SouthWestEngland-railstation-stub

The site today

References

Further reading

External links