Sandford and Banwell railway station on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Sandford and Banwell railway station was a station on the Bristol and Exeter Railway's Cheddar Valley line in Sandford,
The station was opened as Sandford with the broad gauge line to Cheddar in August 1869 as a single-platform station. The railway was extended to Wells in 1870, converted to standard gauge in the mid-1870s and then linked up to the
Sandford and Banwell railway station was a station on the Bristol and Exeter Railway's Cheddar Valley line in Sandford, Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
, England. The station is a Grade II listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
The station can be viewed from the Strawberry Line Trail, which runs adjacent to the site.
History
The station was opened as Sandford with the broad gauge line to Cheddar in August 1869 as a single-platform station. The railway was extended to Wells in 1870, converted to standard gauge in the mid-1870s and then linked up to the East Somerset Railway
The East Somerset Railway is a heritage railway in Somerset, running between Cranmore and Mendip Vale. Prior to the Beeching Axe, the railway was once part of the former Cheddar Valley line that ran from Witham to Yatton, meeting the Somer ...
to provide through services from Yatton to Witham
Witham () is a town in the county of Essex in the East of England, with a population ( 2011 census) of 25,353. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the city of Che ...
in 1878. All the railways involved were absorbed into the Great Western Railway in the 1870s.
The Yatton to Witham line closed to passengers in September 1963 and Yatton-Cheddar closed to goods in October 1964. Sandford and Banwell station was used initially by Somerset County Council highways department for storage and was later taken over by a local company, Sandford Stone, which kept it well-preserved until going into liquidation. The site has since been redeveloped as "Sandford Station Care Village" a sheltered housing
Sheltered housing is a term covering a wide range of rented housing for older and/or disabled or other vulnerable people. In the United Kingdom most commonly it refers to grouped housing such as a block or "scheme" of flats or bungalows with a ...
complex. Two period open wagons and a BR coach stand on a short section of track.
Part of the restoration work included the reinstatement of a number of original features of the station including a replica cast iron running in board
A running in board is a large sign showing the name of the railway station on which it is found. The signs are intended to inform passengers of their location when on a train entering the station, possibly while still moving at speed. Some signs ...
that was cast at Barr and Grosvenor's foundry in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...
.
Services
References
* {{coord, 51.332029, N, 2.839327, W, region:GB-NSM_type:railwaystation, format=dms, display=title, name=Sandford and Banwell railway station Sandford and Banwell Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1869 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1963 1869 establishments in England Former Great Western Railway stations