Holt Junction was a railway station which served the village of Holt, Wiltshire, England between 1861 and 1966. It stood on the Wessex Main Line at its junction with the western end of the Devizes branch.

History

The

Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway The Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway (WS&WR) was an early railway company in south-western England. It obtained Parliamentary powers in 1845 to build a railway from near Chippenham in Wiltshire, southward to Salisbury and Weymouth in Dors ...

Company opened their line southward from near Chippenham, at first only as far as Westbury, in 1848; the line passed Holt village to the southeast but there were no local stations. The company sold its line to the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1850. In 1857 the GWR completed the Devizes branch line, which met the earlier line to the east of the village. By 1861 there was a single-platform station at the junction to allow passengers to transfer between main line and branch trains. Holt Junction station opened to passengers in 1874, although the only access from the village was by footpath; in 1877 a road connection was made and a goods shed was added. In 1862 the GWR extended its Reading-Hungerford line westward via to Devizes, creating a route from

London Paddington Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great ...

to the South West. However, usage of the Devizes line declined from 1900 after the opening of the shorter Stert-Westbury link. In 1897 the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company (later

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since ...

) converted

Staverton Mill Staverton Mill is an historic woollen mill and now a cereal factory on the River Avon in the village of Staverton near Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England. History A mill is first mentioned in the 11th century Doomsday Book at ''Stavretone.'' By ...

, about one mile from the station, for condensed milk production. In 1909 a large covered loading bay was built to the west of the station; this remained in use until 1934, when the factory gained a direct rail connection. From 1905 the GWR used

rail motors A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a driv ...

(self-propelled carriages) to provide local services on the Chippenham-Westbury line and the Devizes branch.

Closure

The goods yard closed in 1963 and the rest of the station, along with the branch line, closed in 1966.

References

{{Closed stations Wiltshire Disused railway stations in Wiltshire Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1861 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1966 Beeching closures in England 1861 establishments in England