South Cerney railway station was on the

Midland and South Western Junction Railway The Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR) was an independent railway built to form a north–south link between the Midland Railway and the London and South Western Railway in England, allowing the Midland and other companies' tr ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. The station opened on 18 December 1883 on the

Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway The Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR) was an independent railway built to form a north–south link between the Midland Railway and the London and South Western Railway in England, allowing the Midland and other companies' tr ...

line from

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

to the temporary terminus at Cirencester Watermoor. The S&CER line amalgamated in 1884 with the

Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway The Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR) was an independent railway built to form a north–south link between the Midland Railway and the London and South Western Railway in England, allowing the Midland and other companies' tr ...

to form the M&SWJR, and through services beyond Cirencester to the junction at

Andoversford Andoversford is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England, about east of Cheltenham. The village is on the River Coln, parallel to the A40.The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 555. In 2019 ...

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 ...

's Cheltenham Lansdown to

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

line, which had opened in 1881, started in 1891. Cerney and Ashton Keynes station was just outside the village of

South Cerney South Cerney is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, 3 miles south of Cirencester and close to the border with Wiltshire. It had a population of 3,074 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 3,464 at the ...

and about 2.5 miles north east of

Ashton Keynes Ashton Keynes is a village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England which borders with Gloucestershire. The village is about south of Cirencester and west of Cricklade. At the 2011 census the population of the parish, which includes the ...

. In 1905, the Great Western Railway's

Minety Minety is a village in north Wiltshire, England, between Malmesbury – to the west – and Swindon. It takes its name from the water mint plant found growing in ditches around the village, and has previously been known as Myntey. It has a prima ...

station on the

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

to Kemble line was renamed as "

and Ashton Keynes": it was about the same distance south west of Ashton Keynes. The two stations were not in nominal competition for long, however. Cerney and Ashton Keynes was renamed as simply "Cerney" after 1910 and then, after the GWR had absorbed the M&SWJR at the

Grouping Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...

in 1923, as "South Cerney". Passenger traffic at the station was never high, but there was much goods activity associated with the local gravel pits. As a whole, traffic on the M&SWJR fell steeply after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the line closed to passengers in 1961, with goods facilities at South Cerney being withdrawn in July 1963. The only traces of the station remaining is the line of the track through the railway arches and part of the Signal Box in the garden of Ashmoon House. Part of the line remains in use as a cycle path.

Route

References

* ''Gloucestershire Railway Stations'', Mike Oakley, Dovecote Press, Wimborne, 2003, Disused railway stations in Gloucestershire Former Midland and South Western Junction Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1883 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1961 {{Gloucestershire-struct-stub