Ross-on-Wye railway station is a former
junction railway station
Junction railway station was just outside the village of Crossbarry, on the Cork and Bandon Railway in County Cork
County Cork ( ga, Contae ChorcaĂ) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, ...
on the
Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway
The Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway (also known as the Gloucester and Dean Forest Railway), was a railway which ran for linking Hereford and Gloucester, England, via Ross-on-Wye. It was opened on 1 June 1855 as a broad gauge line, it ...
constructed just to the north of the
Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
town of
Ross-on-Wye
Ross-on-Wye ( Welsh: ''Rhosan ar Wy'') is a market town in England, near the border with Wales. It had a population of 10,582 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 11,309 in 2019. It lies in south-eastern Herefordshire, on the River Wye ...
. It was the terminus of the
Ross and Monmouth Railway which joined the
Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway
The Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway (also known as the Gloucester and Dean Forest Railway), was a railway which ran for linking Hereford and Gloucester, England, via Ross-on-Wye. It was opened on 1 June 1855 as a broad gauge line, it ...
just south of the station.
History
The station was opened on 1 June 1855 by the
Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway
The Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway (also known as the Gloucester and Dean Forest Railway), was a railway which ran for linking Hereford and Gloucester, England, via Ross-on-Wye. It was opened on 1 June 1855 as a broad gauge line, it ...
four years after line had received parliamentary consent to be constructed. A line from
Ross-on-Wye
Ross-on-Wye ( Welsh: ''Rhosan ar Wy'') is a market town in England, near the border with Wales. It had a population of 10,582 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 11,309 in 2019. It lies in south-eastern Herefordshire, on the River Wye ...
to
Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury ( ) is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the Wars of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the Ri ...
was authorised by parliament in 1856 but was never built.
On 29 July 1862 the
line was amalgamated 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 ...
and in 1869 the line was converted from
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 ...
to
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
in a five-day period. In 1873 the
Ross and Monmouth Railway to
Monmouth
Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...
via
Lydbrook
Lydbrook is a civil parish in the Forest of Dean, a local government district in the English county of Gloucestershire and is located in the Wye Valley. It is on the north west edge of the Forest of Dean's present legal boundary proper. It compri ...
was opened and it terminated at the station. The station then passed on to the
Western Region of British Railways
The Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right on completion of the "Organising for Quality" initiative on 6 April 1992. The Region consisted principally of ex- Great ...
on
nationalisation
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
in 1948.
The lines to Ross closed in stages. On the
Ross and Monmouth Railway passenger services were withdrawn and the section from
Lydbrook Junction to
Monmouth Troy was closed on 5 January 1959. The remaining section remained open until 1 November 1965 for freight traffic only. The
Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway
The Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway (also known as the Gloucester and Dean Forest Railway), was a railway which ran for linking Hereford and Gloucester, England, via Ross-on-Wye. It was opened on 1 June 1855 as a broad gauge line, it ...
closed to passengers on 2 November 1964 and the line south to the junction at Grange Court closed on 1 November 1965. The line going north to
Rotherwas Junction and
Hereford Station closed when passenger service were withdrawn in 1964.
The brick built station building has been demolished and the site redeveloped into an industrial estate. The brick goods and engine sheds still stand.
![Great Western Court 1 - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Great_Western_Court_1_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1023156.jpg)
The
Severn Valley Railway
The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and c ...
station at
Kidderminster Town is based on the design for Ross-on-Wye even down to the decorative cast roof crestings; the patterns for which were derived from measurement of segments of the original ones.
Stationmasters
*Mr. Grundy ca. 1856
*James Rycroft 1865 - 1885
*William Francis Marvin 1889 - 1899 (afterwards station master at Gloucester)
*Ernest C. Peglar 1900 - 1911 (formerly station master at Abergavenny)
*W.P. Roberts 1911 - 1915 (afterwards station master at Stroud)
*A.J. Bannister D.S.O. 1915 - 1921 (afterwards station master at Paignton)
*W.J. Fey 1921 - 1925 (formerly station master at Lydney and Grange Court)
*C.J. Rees 1925 - 1930 (formerly station master at Whimsy)
*R.W. Kilvington 1931
*Allan A. Crabbe 1931 - 1932
(afterwards station master at Cheltenham)
References
Further reading
*
External links
Station on 1952 OS Map Photographs of the station site today Local history site about the railway in Ross
{{Closed stations Herefordshire
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1855
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1964
Former Great Western Railway stations
Disused railway stations in Herefordshire
History of Herefordshire
Beeching closures in England
Ross-on-Wye