Shapwick station was a
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
on the Highbridge branch of the
Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway
The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, also known as the S&D, SDJR or S&DJR, was an English railway line connecting Bath (in north-east Somerset) and Bournemouth (now in south-east Dorset but then in Hampshire), with a branch from Evercreec ...
. Opened by the Somerset Central Railway in 1854, the station consisted of a goods yard, 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 ...
with two platforms, and a wooden station building which burned down and was replaced in 1900.
The passing-loop and a level crossing were operated from a 17-lever
signal box
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
, which was opened in 1901 to replace one destroyed in the 1900 fire.
The station was two and a half miles from the village of
Shapwick and appeared in some early timetables as "Shapwick Road", though this does not seem to have ever been an official name.
The station was closed, with the rest of the branch, on 7 March 1966.
The line and station were held in fond regard by
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...
who in 1963 featured them in a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
programme, ''Let's Imagine: a Branch Line Railway,'' in which Betjeman travels from
Evercreech Junction
Evercreech Junction was a railway station at Evercreech on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway.
Originally opened in 1862 as "Evercreech" on the original S&D line from Burnham-on-Sea to Broadstone, it became in 1874 the junction for the north ...
[Archived a]
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
to
Burnham on Sea
Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett, upon Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort. ...
.
Further reading
*
External links
Station page at Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway site
References
{{coord, 51.1670, -2.8267, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title
Disused railway stations in Somerset
Former Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1854
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1966
Beeching closures in England