New Passage Pier was the original terminus of the

Bristol and South Wales Union Railway The Bristol and South Wales Union Railway was built to connect Bristol, England, with south Wales. The route involved a ferry crossing of the River Severn but was considerably shorter than the alternative route through Gloucester. The ferry wa ...

, located on the south bank of the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

New Passage New Passage is a hamlet in South Gloucestershire, England, on the banks of the Severn estuary near the village of Pilning. It takes its name from the ferry service which operated between there and South Wales until 1886. Ferry History New Pas ...

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming part ...

, England. At New Passage, passengers would disembark from trains and use a boat across the Severn. New Passage had been the site of a ferry from England to Wales including the use by mail and passenger coaches between Bristol and to Portskewett in south Wales. In 1825 the New Passage Association formed, using the 30-ton steamboat "St Pierre". However, the sponsorship by the

Dukes of Beaufort Duke of Beaufort (), a title in the Peerage of England, was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, legitimised son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Som ...

of the Aust route, with faster boats and a pier, meant that by 1830 mail coaches were diverted there, and the New Passage declined. Construction of the new railway started in 1858 and the single-track

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

line opened from South Wales Junction, half a mile east of

Bristol Temple Meads Bristol Temple Meads is the oldest and largest railway station in Bristol, England. It is located away from London Paddington. It is an important transport hub for public transport in the city; there are bus services to many parts of the city ...

, as far as the landward end of New Passage

Pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

on 8 September 1863, a distance of . The distance by rail between Bristol and Cardiff was reduced from to . The Bristol and South Wales Union Railway built new

pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

s for the ferry, that at New Passage being long. A steam ferry, the ''Saint Pierre'' had been built by Pride and Williams for the New Passage crossing in 1825 and it worked there until 1831. The B&SWUR bought a new steamer, the ''Gem'' in 1863 but it proved unsuitable and was soon replaced by the ''Relief''. John Bland, a carrier and shareholder in the railway, was contracted to operate the ferry. The next vessel purchased was the ''Dragon Fly'', this had been used by the contractors to build the piers but was too small to work as the ferry. Instead, two paddle tugs, the ''Ajax'' and the ''Atlas'' were hired in to cover for the ''Relief''. A new paddle steamer arrived in June 1864, named ''Christopher Thomas'' after the chairman of the B&SWUR, it had been built for the company by Henderson, Coulborn and Company at

Renfrew Renfrew (; sco, Renfrew; gd, Rinn Friù) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. A slightly larger vessel named the ''Chepstow'' arrived from the same shipyard on 11 February 1875. These two continued in service until the Severn Tunnel was opened in 1886. They were sold to WS Ogden at Cardiff in 1880, the ''Chepstow'' being renamed the ''Rover''. The funnels were generally painted black with a red band. The station became redundant in 1886 following construction of the

Severn Tunnel The Severn Tunnel ( cy, Twnnel Hafren) is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn. It was constructed by the Great Western ...

, and was closed. The pier was demolished by 1888. A plaque now marks the site, and although the building of new piling for flood defences and new concrete castings mean there is little to no trace of the railway on the land side, at low water, some remains of wooden piling can be seen below the plaque site.

References

{{Transport in Gloucestershire Disused railway stations in Gloucestershire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1863 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1886 Former Great Western Railway stations Bristol and South Wales Union Railway