Shrivenham railway station

Shrivenham railway station was a station on the Great Western Main Line serving the village of Shrivenham in what was then part of Berkshire.

Shrivenham
The site of the station in 2014
General information
Location	Shrivenham, District of Vale of White Horse England
Grid reference	SU237875
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Great Western Railway
Pre-grouping	GWR
Post-grouping	GWR Western Region of British Railways
Key dates
17 December 1840	Opened
7 December 1964	Closed
Location

History

The station was about 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) south of the village, on the west side of the B4000 Station Road, south of the Wilts & Berks Canal, and 5 miles 1,056 yards (9 km) along the line east of Swindon.^[1]

The main station building was built in 1840. It was very small, faced with flint, had Tudor style windows and a roof that projected in the form of a canopy.^[2]

On 10 May 1848 six passengers were killed and 13 injured at Shrivenham when two porters pushed a horse-box and cattle van onto the main line to free a waggon turntable. The Exeter express struck them; the locomotive was undamaged but the side of the leading coach was torn out killing six passengers and injuring 13 more.^[3]

On 15 January 1936 an express from Penzance, hauled by GWR 6000 Class 4-6-0 No. 6007 King William III, collided with some coal wagons just outside the station that had become detached from an earlier train hauled by GWR 2800 Class 2-8-0 No. 2802. Two people (the male driver and a female passenger) were killed and 10 injured.^[4][5][1]

On 7 December 1964 British Railways withdrew passenger services from Shrivenham and all other intermediate stations between Didcot and Swindon. The station buildings were demolished in 1965 but remnants of the platforms survived.^[6]

The station building is described and shown in some detail in the 1962 John Betjeman documentary, "Men of Steam".

Routes

A 1906 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of Shrivenham

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Uffington Line open, station closed		British Rail Western Region Great Western Main Line		Stratton Park Halt Line open, station closed