Henbury railway station served the

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

suburb of

Henbury Henbury is a suburb of Bristol, England, approximately north west of the city centre. It was formerly a village in Gloucestershire and is now bordered by Westbury-on-Trym to the south; Brentry to the east and the Blaise Castle Estate, Blaise Ha ...

, England, from 1910 to 1965. The station was situated on the

Henbury Loop Line The Henbury Loop Line, also known as the Filton to Avonmouth Line, is a railway line following the boundary between Bristol and South Gloucestershire between the Severn Beach Line at Hallen Marsh Junction, Avonmouth and the Cross Country Rout ...

of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

and was opened on 9 May 1910 for passenger services. Under the

Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised British Rail, railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Develop ...

, it was closed to passengers on 23 November 1964, with goods services ceasing on 5 July 1965. There is a proposal to reopen the station as part of the Greater Bristol Metro scheme.

History

Opened by the

on 9 May 1910, Henbury station was situated on the

which was inaugurated on the same day. The new line formed part of the Great Western's main route to

Avonmouth Docks The Avonmouth Docks are part of the Port of Bristol, in England. They are situated on the northern side of the mouth of the River Avon, opposite the Royal Portbury Dock on the southern side, where the river joins the Severn estuary, within Avo ...

via Stoke Gifford Junction on the

Bristol and Gloucester Railway The Bristol and Gloucester Railway was a railway company opened in 1844 to run services between Bristol and Gloucester. It was built on the , but it was acquired in 1845 by the Midland Railway, which also acquired the Birmingham and Gloucester R ...

. Regular passenger services ceased to call at the station between 1915 and 1922, although it appears that unadvertised workmen's services were used by the public to reach the station. In fact, a note in the list of stations issued by the

Railway Clearing House The Railway Clearing House (RCH) was an organisation set up to manage the allocation of revenue collected by pre-grouping railway companies for the conveyance of passengers and goods over the lines (or using the rolling stock) of other compani ...

in 1921 stated that "Season Ticket and Ordinary Passengers are conveyed". The station was publicly advertised again from 10 July 1922. Henbury station was listed for closure by the

Beeching report Beeching is an English surname. Either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames' ...

and it duly closed to passengers on 23 November 1964, with goods services being withdrawn as from 5 July 1965. The station's former goods yard was sold at auction in October 2008 by

BRB (Residuary) Limited BRB (Residuary) LimitedCompanies House extract company no 4146505

after

South Gloucestershire Council South Gloucestershire Council is the local authority of South Gloucestershire, England, covering an area to the north of the city of Bristol. As a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority it has the powers of a non-metropolitan county a ...

had declined to make an offer.

Future

Improved services on the Severn Beach Line are called for as part of the MetroWest scheme, a rail transport plan which aims to enhance transport capacity in the Bristol area. It has been suggested that Henbury railway station be reopened as part of the scheme, with the possibility of services running from Bristol Temple Meads to via and Henbury. The Metro scheme was given the go-ahead in July 2012 as part of the City Deal, whereby local councils would be given greater control over money by the government. In January 2018, it was revealed that the reopened station would be on a new site rather than the former site (referred to as Henbury West) due to high costs. The opening date was pencilled in for May 2021, but has been delayed. The new station will be located close to the A4018 with access by foot, cycle, bus and car. It will link in with the Fishpool Hill development proposed by

Persimmon The persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus ''Diospyros''. The most widely cultivated of these is the Oriental persimmon, ''Diospyros kaki'' ''Diospyros'' is in the family Ebenaceae, and a number of non-pers ...

, and will be served by an hourly service between Henbury and Bristol Temple Meads. It will be an unstaffed terminus station with one platform and trains will travel eastbound towards Bristol Temple Meads via Filton Abbey Wood, with new stations at North Filton and

Ashley Down Ashley Down is an area in the north of Bristol. It lies on high ground east of Bishopston, north of St Andrews and St Werburghs, west of Muller Road and south of Horfield. The main artery is Ashley Down Road. Since May 2016 it is part of the ...

. Planning permission for the new station, which is expected to open in 2026, was applied for on 21 August 2023.

References

Notes

Sources

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External links

Henbury station on navigable 1946 O. S. map
{{Transport in Gloucestershire Former Great Western Railway stations Disused railway stations in Bristol, Bath and South Gloucestershire Beeching closures in England Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1910 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1915 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1922 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1965 Proposed railway stations in England Henbury