Upton and Blewbury railway station was a station on 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 Mid ...

in England. It served Upton, with

Blewbury Blewbury is a village and civil parish at the foot of the Berkshire Downs section of the North Wessex Downs about south of Didcot, south of Oxford and west of London. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it ...

and

West Hagbourne West Hagbourne is a village and civil parish in the Berkshire Downs about south of Didcot. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 259. History The village was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfor ...

being only a mile from the station. It was opened in 1882 to serve military camps in the area.Ditchfield, P.H and Page, W., A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 3 (1923)
/ref> Originally named Upton;

was added to the name of the station in 1911 to recognise the more distant but larger village in the

Vale of White Horse The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. It was historically a north-west projection of Berkshire. The area is commonly referred to as the 'Vale of ''the'' White Horse'. It is crossed by the Ridgeway Nat ...

. In the latter part of the station's history it also served the

Atomic Energy Research Establishment The Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE) was the main Headquarters, centre for nuclear power, atomic energy research and development in the United Kingdom from 1946 to the 1990s. It was created, owned and funded by the British Governm ...

Harwell Harwell may refer to: People * Harwell (surname) * Harwell Hamilton Harris (1903–1990), American architect Places * Harwell, Nottinghamshire, England, a hamlet *Harwell, Oxfordshire, England, a village **RAF Harwell, a World War II RAF airfield, ...

. The station closed in 1962.

Facilities

The station comprised two platforms, with the ticket office and station buildings located on the southbound platform on a passing loop. The northbound platform, linked by two paths across the tracks at either end for access, had a small wooden shelter and a

signal box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

at its northern end. To the North of the station was a

headshunt A headshunt (or escape track in the United States) is a short length of track provided to release locomotives at terminal platforms, or to allow shunting to take place clear of main lines. Terminal headshunt A 'terminal headshunt' is a short ...

and two sidings, one flanking the southbound platform used for loading horses and other goods, the other siding curving to the east.

The site today

The station building is still in excellent condition with a recent extension in the original style. It even retains its original canopy, although it has also been recently surrounded by further housing. The original station approach and car park area has been named "Beeching Close".Karau, P., Parsons, M. and Robertson, K. (1984) ''An illustrated history of the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway'', Wild Swan Publications,

Routes

References

{{coord, 51.5787, N, 1.2640, W, region:GB, display=title Disused railway stations in Oxfordshire Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1882 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1942 Railway stations in Canada opened in 1943 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1962