Shapwick railway station

Shapwick station was a railway station on the Highbridge branch of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. Opened by the Somerset Central Railway in 1854, the station consisted of a goods yard, a passing loop with two platforms, and a wooden station building which burned down and was replaced in 1900.

Shapwick
Shapwick in 1960
General information
LocationShapwick, Sedgemoor
England
Grid referenceST423412
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Pre-groupingSomerset Central Railway
Post-groupingSR and LMS
Western Region of British Railways
Key dates
28 August 1854Opened
7 March 1966Closed

The passing-loop and a level crossing were operated from a 17-lever signal box, which was opened in 1901 to replace one destroyed in the 1900 fire.

The station was two and a half miles from the village of Shapwick and appeared in some early timetables as "Shapwick Road", though this does not seem to have ever been an official name.

The station was closed, with the rest of the branch, on 7 March 1966.

The line and station were held in fond regard by John Betjeman who in 1963 featured them in a BBC programme, Let's Imagine: a Branch Line Railway,[1] in which Betjeman travels from Evercreech Junction[2] to Burnham on Sea.

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Ashcott
Line and station closed		   Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway
LSWR and Midland Railways		   Edington Junction
Line and station closed

Further reading
  • R.V.J. Butt (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1

References
  1. Let's Imagine - A Branch Line Railway with John Betjeman, retrieved 26 February 2022
  2. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: BRANCH LINE - 1 - Sir John Betjeman. YouTube.

51.1670°N 2.8267°W / 51.1670; -2.8267

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