Kelston was a small railway station about four miles west of Bath on the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line The Mangotsfield and Bath branch line was a railway line opened by the Midland Railway Company in 1869 to connect Bath, Somerset, Bath to its network at Mangotsfield railway station, Mangotsfield, on its line between Bristol and Birmingham. It wa ...

History

Kelston Station was opened in 1869 when the Midland Railway opened its Mangotsfield to Bath branchline. The station was located a short distance across some fields from the village of Kelston and closer to the village of

Saltford Saltford is a large English village and civil parish in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority, Somerset. It lies between the cities of Bristol and Bath, and adjoins Keynsham on the same route. Saltford Manor House (built about 116 ...

on the other side of the River Avon, which it was connected to by a footpath that ran alongside the railway on the bridge over the river. For many years the station was known as "Kelston (for Saltford)", although Saltford had its own station on the Great Western Main Line.
The station generated little traffic apart from race days at

Bath Racecourse Bath Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue on Lansdown Hill, about northeast of Bath, Somerset, England. It is owned and operated by Arena Racing Company. The racecourse is a left-handed oval track of 1 mile 4 furlongs and 25 yards, ...

, which could be reached by a three-mile trek over the fields, mostly uphill, or regatta days at Saltford.
The station closed at the end of 1948, although the line remained open for passenger traffic until March 1966 and for goods to Bath Gasworks until 1971. The station was destroyed by fire in 1882.

Services

The station was served by local trains between Bristol St Philips or and Bath Green Park via

Mangotsfield Mangotsfield is an urban area and former village in the unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England, to the north-east of Bristol. The village was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 ...

and

Bitton Bitton is a village and civil parish of South Gloucestershire in England, to the east of the Greater Bristol area on the River Boyd. It is in South Gloucestershire. The parish of Bitton has a population of 9,307, and apart from the villag ...

Future

The Avon Valley Railway plans to reopen Kelston station as part of their southern extension to Bath.

References

* ''Somerset Railway stations'' by Mike Oakley, Dovecote Press, Wimborne, 2002. Disused railway stations in Bath, Somerset Former Midland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1869 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1949 History of Bath, Somerset 1869 establishments in England {{Somerset-struct-stub