Moulsford railway station

Moulsford
Site of Moulsford railway station in September 2009.
Viewed from A329 bridge looking south-east towards Goring; parapet of Moulsford Railway Bridge is visible on the curve
General information
LocationMoulsford, South Oxfordshire
England
Grid referenceSU592851
Platforms3
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyGreat Western Railway
Pre-groupingGWR
Key dates
1 June 1840Line opened
Station opened as Wallingford Road
2 July 1866Renamed Moulsford
29 February 1892Station closed

Moulsford railway station was on the original route of the Great Western Railway, being one of three intermediate stations provided when the line was extended from Reading to Steventon in 1840.

History

The Great Western Railway was built and opened in stages. It had opened as far as Reading on 30 March 1840;[1] on 1 June 1840 it was opened to Steventon, with three intermediate stations, the northernmost of which was Wallingford Road;[2] it was possibly named Moulsford originally, being renamed by December 1840.[3]

Wallingford Road station was located on the eastern side of the Reading–Wallingford main road (the present-day A329 road), about a mile to the north of Moulsford village, and slightly further from the village of Cholsey, which lies to the north. Being on the western side of the River Thames it was then in Berkshire; the boundaries were redrawn in 1974 placing the station site two miles inside present-day Oxfordshire.

On 2 July 1866, a branch line to Wallingford was opened by the Wallingford & Watlington Railway, and on the same day Wallingford Road station was renamed Moulsford.[3][4][5] Whilst the junction for the branch was at Moulsford station, the branch line track ran parallel to the main line for three-quarters of a mile before curving away.[6] The Wallingford & Watlington Railway never reached the second-named town, and it was absorbed by the GWR in 1872.[7]

In 1892, during quadrupling of the main line, the junction for Wallingford was resited down the line to the north-west, closer to the point of divergence, and a new station built there.[5] Moulsford station closed on 29 February 1892,[8] being replaced the same day by the new station which was known as Cholsey and Moulsford,[9][10] being significantly closer to Cholsey than to Moulsford. Some of the original station buildings can still be seen at the site of Moulsford railway station.

To the south-east of the former station site is Moulsford Railway Bridge, a stone-faced brick bridge which crosses the River Thames, having four 62-foot (19 m) skew arches.[11]

Services

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Didcot
Line and station open 		  Great Western Railway
Great Western Main Line 		  Goring & Streatley
Line and station open
Wallingford
Line and station closed 		  Great Western Railway
Wallingford railway branch line 		  Terminus

Notes

  1. ^ MacDermot, vol. I, part I, p. 99
  2. ^ MacDermot, vol. I, part I, p. 102
  3. ^ a b Butt 1995, pp. 165, 240
  4. ^ MacDermot, vol. II, pp. 42-43
  5. ^ a b Mitchell & Smith, fig. 57
  6. ^ Mitchell & Smith, figs. 57, 59
  7. ^ MacDermot, vol. II, p. 43
  8. ^ Butt 1995, p. 165
  9. ^ MacDermot, vol. II, p. 393
  10. ^ Mitchell & Smith, fig. 58
  11. ^ MacDermot, vol. I, part I, p. 101

References

  • Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  • MacDermot, E.T. (1927). History of the Great Western Railway. Vol. I Part I (1st ed.). Paddington: Great Western Railway.
  • MacDermot, E.T. (1931). History of the Great Western Railway. Vol. II (1st ed.). Paddington: Great Western Railway.
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (March 2002). Reading to Didcot. Western Main Lines. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-901706-79-6.
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51°33′43″N 1°08′48″W / 51.562°N 1.1467°W / 51.562; -1.1467