Wedgwood railway station served the
Wedgwood
Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...
complex in
Barlaston
Barlaston is a village and civil parish in the Stafford (borough), borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is roughly halfway between the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the small town of Stone, Staffordshire, Stone. According ...
,
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
,
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 ...
. Although the station is not officially closed, there has been no train service at the station since 2004 and it is instead served by a rail replacement bus.
History
The station was opened by the
London Midland & Scottish Railway
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...
on 1 January 1940
to serve the
Wedgwood
Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...
complex in
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
,
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 ...
. Nearby is
Barlaston Hall
Barlaston Hall is an English Palladian country house in the village of Barlaston in Staffordshire, on a ridge overlooking the valley of the River Trent to the west, about south of Stoke-on-Trent, with the towns of Stone about to the south, a ...
, and the station also serves the village of
Trentham, near
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
.
It was originally named ''Wedgwood Halt'', and was renamed ''Wedgwood'' on 14 June 1965. From 23 May 2004
the line through the station was temporarily closed for major refurbishment work, but upon completion the station was not re-opened; the tracks through the station are still regularly used but trains do not stop there. Along with nearby , a rail replacement bus serves the station instead, operated by
D&G 100, which accepts valid rail tickets.
The station is currently threatened with complete closure – it was formerly served by the to stopping service, but was not included as a stop on the Crewe–London Euston service ran by then-operator
London Midland
London Midland was a train operating company in England which operated the West Midlands franchise between 11 November 2007 and 10 December 2017. It was owned by the British transport group Govia.
London Midland was created as a result of Govi ...
. There were plans to have it re-opened to traffic in 2018 when the next West Midlands rail franchise started. This did not happen in 2018, although the new franchise tender includes proposals to reinstate either this station or Barlaston as a stop on a new Birmingham - Stoke - Crewe service.
"Plan to reopen closed Wedgwood or Barlaston railway stations back on"
'Stoke Sentinel'' news article 31 August 2016; Retrieved 28 October 2016
Access to the platforms is no longer possible as the station has been fenced off. Network Rail have erected signs saying the platforms are structurally unsafe.
Plans to officially close the station to passengers, and reopen , were planned for May 2021. However no Notice of Closure for Wedgwood has been published and there is no service at Barlaston.
See also
* Railway stations not officially closed with no services in the United Kingdom
References
Further reading
*
External links
Railway stations in Staffordshire
Former London, Midland and Scottish Railway stations
Wedgwood pottery
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1940
Barlaston
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