Blunsdon railway station

Blunsdon railway station is a station on the Swindon and Cricklade Railway, a heritage line in Wiltshire, England. The first station on the site was built in 1895 to serve the village of Blunsdon, north of Swindon, and closed in 1937.

Blunsdon
Station on heritage railway
Hudswell Clarke saddle tank Tubby at Blunsdon
General information
LocationTadpole Lane, Swindon SN25 2DA
Wiltshire
England
Coordinates51.60702°N 1.84362°W / 51.60702; -1.84362
Grid referenceSU109897
Platforms1
History
Original companySwindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway
Pre-groupingMidland and South Western Junction Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Key dates
1 September 1895opened
22 September 1924[1]closed for passengers
1 August 1937closed for goods
Railway lines in Swindon
Highworth branch line
Great Western Main Line
to London
Stratton
Stratton Park Halt
Stratton St Margaret Works
Midland & Sth Western Jn Rly
to Cheltenham
Midland & Sth Western Jn Rly
to Southampton
Swindon and Cricklade Railway Hayes Knoll
Chiseldon Camp Halt
Swindon and Cricklade Railway Blunsdon
Chiseldon
Moredon Halt
Swindon Town
Moredon Power Station
Swindon
 Rushey Platt
Purton
Golden Valley line
Wootton Bassett Junction
South Wales Main Line
to Swansea
Great Western Main Line
to Bristol

History

Blunsdon was one of the last stations to be opened by the Midland and South Western Junction Railway in 1895 on a line that had opened in 1883.

Its site was in Purton parish, next to the overbridge carrying a lane between Purton and the villages of Blunsdon St Andrew and Broad Blunsdon.[2] It was little more than a single-platform halt, and milk was the main traffic. It had a short curved siding, used for such traffic as fertiliser and other agricultural goods. The platform was south of the bridge, while the siding and goods yard were to the north.[2]

The station was also one of the first on the line to be closed. Regular passenger trains stopped calling in 1922, leaving one passenger train service stopping at Blunsdon on a Sunday until 1924. The station closed completely on 1 August 1937 when goods traffic ceased.[3]

Heritage railway

The site became the headquarters of the Swindon and Cricklade Railway in the late 1970s because it offered the best road access to the trackbed between Swindon and Cricklade. By that time, almost every trace of the original station had gone, and the present structures – several of them relocated from other closed railways – are all new.

Blunsdon station offers a variety of services including the Swindon and Cricklade railway shop, cafe, toilets and car parking.

Route
Preceding station Heritage Railways  Heritage railways Following station
Hayes Knoll   Swindon & Cricklade Railway   Taw Valley Halt
Disused railways
Cricklade   Midland and South Western Junction Railway
Swindon & Cheltenham Extension Railway		   Moredon Halt

References
  • Wiltshire Railway Stations, Mike Oakley, Dovecote Press, Wimborne, 2004, pp.17–18, ISBN 1-904349-33-1
  1. Quick, M E (2002). Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales - a chronology. Richmond: Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 85. OCLC 931112387.
  2. "Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, Wiltshire X.6". National Library of Scotland. 1900. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  3. Crittall, Elizabeth, ed. (1959). "Railways". A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 4. Victoria County History. University of London. pp. 280–293. Retrieved 13 January 2023 – via British History Online.
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