Abbotsbury railway station

Abbotsbury
General information
Location	Abbotsbury, West Dorset England
Coordinates	50°39′57″N2°35′29″W / 50.66586°N 2.59139°W / 50.66586; -2.59139
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Opened	9 November 1885
Closed	1 December 1952
Original company	Abbotsbury Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway Western Region of British Railways

Abbotsbury was the terminus of the Abbotsbury branch railway in the west of the English county of Dorset. Serving the village of Abbotsbury, it was sited amid fields to the east of the village on the Weymouth to Abbotsbury road, because the railway could not buy the land needed to build the station nearer to the village centre. Plans for westward expansion came to nothing and led to the railway petering out in a shallow cutting to the west of the station.

History

Opened by the Abbotsbury Railway Company in 1885, it was operated from the start by the Great Western Railway. The line then passed on to the Western Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Portesham Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Abbotsbury branch railway		Terminus

Buildings

A typical William Clarke stone building served the single platform. The station also had a signal box and engine shed, and although neither of these operated for long, the ruins of the engine shed remained until closure. The goods shed however functioned for the life of the branch.

The station closed with the branch in 1952.

The site today

The station building has now been replaced with a private dwelling although the platform remains underneath the length of the building.

Film

The station makes short appearances in the Powell and Pressburger film The Small Back Room .

References

• Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN   1-85260-508-1.
• Jowett, A. (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas. Atlantic Publishing. ISBN   0-906899-99-0.
• Abbotsbury station on navigable 1946 O. S. map

Further reading

• Jackson, Brian L. (1989). The Abbotsbury Branch. Wild Swan Publications Ltd. ISBN   0-906867-80-0.
• Karau, Paul (1977). Great Western Branch Line Termini Combined edition. Oxford Publishing Company. ISBN   0-86093-369-5.