Litchfield railway station, on the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway, served the small village of

Litchfield, Hampshire Litchfield is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Litchfield and Woodcott, in the Basingstoke and Deane district of Hampshire, England. It is closely bypassed by the A34 road (England), A34 trunk road between Newbury, Berkshir ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The station received relatively little traffic (only 20 passengers a week during the 1920s).

Station layout

The station was originally built with two platforms and a

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

in the same style as other stations on the route. However, low traffic resulted in the removal of the loop in 1936, only for a longer loop and the platform to be reinstated in 1943 to deal with wartime traffic. This was then removed again in 1955, only five years before the station's closure. There was a small

siding Siding may refer to: * Siding (construction), the outer covering or cladding of a house * Siding (rail) A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch l ...

and

headshunt A headshunt (or escape track in the United States) is a short length of track provided to release locomotives at terminal platforms, or to allow shunting to take place clear of main lines. Terminal headshunt A 'terminal headshunt' is a short ...

on the northbound line but goods traffic at the station was light.

The site today

The station is a private house, not owned by C.A.H Wills who owns Litchfield farms estate and lives in the village. The station was sold by Hampshire County Council in 1978 and has been restored. The approach road is now a private drive to the property. In 1976 the Litchfield - Whitchurch bypass was opened and made use of the DN&SR trackbed south of Litchfield towards Whitchurch for a distance of one mile.

Routes

References

{{coord, 51.2806, N, 1.3419, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Disused railway stations in Hampshire Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1885 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1942 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1943 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1960