Winchester (Chesil) railway station was, for the first six years after the opening of the line, the terminus of the

Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DN&SR) was a cross-country railway running north–south between Didcot, Newbury and Winchester. Its promoters intended an independent route to Southampton and envisaged heavy traffic from the Midl ...

(DNSR), until the line was extended to link up with the Southern Railway line to Southampton. The station buildings were larger than those of any other DNSR station but were built to the standard designs used by the Great Western Railway (GWR). The station buildings were located on the northbound platform. At the northern end of the station the line passed into the double tracked Chesil Tunnel. The station also included a loading bay and single siding at its southern end accessible from the northbound line.

History

Originally named Winchester Cheesehill, the station was opened with the line from Newbury on 4 May 1885. Initially a terminus, since the intended line southwards to Southampton was never completed, it became a through station on 1 October 1891 when a connecting line to the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

(LSWR) was opened, joining the latter at Shawford Junction. For a short period between 1918 and 1920, the station was the junction point for the Avington line, built to serve the

first world war World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

military camps in the Magdalen Hill Down and Avington Park area. This line diverged from the DNSR on the north side of Chesil Tunnel, and was worked by the Railway Operating Department of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. The line was dismantled after the end of the war removed its reason for existence. The station closed temporarily on 4 August 1942, reopening on 8 March 1943. The station was renamed Winchester Chesil on 26 September 1949. Like the other stations on the southern part of the line, Winchester Chesil closed on 7 March 1960; but unlike the others, it was reopened for the next two summers: 18 June 1960 to 10 September 1960 and 17 June 1961 to 9 September 1961, on Saturdays only. After closure the station was demolished and the site is now a car park. The goods shed has been converted to business use.

Bar End Yard and Shed

Further to the south of the station was an area of extensive sidings known as the Bar End Yard. There were 4 sidings, two passing loops, a large goods shed, and a ten-ton crane.Karau, P., Parsons, M. and Robertson, K. (1984) ''An illustrated history of the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway'', Wild Swan Publications, The goods facilities were withdrawn from 4 April 1966. Stabling for two horses was located near the main gate; these animals were used to tow a freight delivery cart. To the east of the line, adjacent to the goods shed, there was an engine shed which opened . This was one of two which provided locomotives for DNSR services, and the only one to actually be located on the line; the other (

Didcot Didcot ( ) is a railway town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Oxfordshire and the Historic counties of England, historic county of Berkshire. Didcot is south of Oxford, eas ...

) was on a GWR line, but Winchester was a sub-shed of Didcot. It was long, and wide, built of stone and brick, with a slate roof supported by a timber framework. The shed housed a single line of rails, and there was a water tank above the northern end; to the south were a small coal stage and a turntable. On 31 December 1947, two GWR locomotives were based at this shed: ''Bulldog'' class 4-4-0 no. 3419, and 2251 class 0-6-0 no. 2252. It closed in July 1953.

Signal box

The signal box at Chesil station was notable for the installation in 1922–23 of an early type of all-electric route-setting using a miniature lever frame in which levers corresponded to appropriate point & signal combinations rather than controlling a single piece of apparatus; the system was designed and supplied by Siemens. It lasted until around 1933 before replacement by an orthodox lever frame giving mechanical control of points and signals – it is believed that the damp conditions of the surrounding area (Chesil station lay partly in a cutting next to St. Giles Hill) caused problems with insulation of the wiring, the installation dating from a time before modern plastics like polythene and PVC were available for use in electrical insulation. The route-setting signal box was only a small scheme and effectively a testbed for a pair of similar but larger installations undertaken at Newport High Street station in South Wales, also during the 1920s.

Routes

Gallery

File:Winchester Chesil Station.jpg, The railway near Chesil Station in August 1960 File:Chesil street car park.jpg, The view from the same vantage point in 2006 File:Old station approach, Winchester.jpg, A modern view of the ''Old Station Approach'' File:Chesil railway tunnel entrance.jpg, The entrance to the Chesil Tunnel still exists File:Winchester Chesil Station footbridge.jpg, The site of the station is now occupied by a multistorey car park. File:Winchester Chesil goods shed.jpg, Winchester Chesil goods shed File:Winchester Chesil tunnel.jpg, Inside Chesil Tunnel in 2007

References

{{coord, 51.0603, -1.3056, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Disused railway stations in Hampshire Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1885 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1942 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1943 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1960 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1960 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1961 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1961 History of Winchester