The Chipping Norton Railway opened in 1855, first linking the town of Chipping Norton with the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&W) at Kingham station, with a single station in the form of Sarsden Halt initially located on the route.
The Chipping Norton Railway opened in 1855, first linking the town of Chipping Norton with the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&W) at Kingham station, with a single station in the form of Sarsden Halt initially located on the route.
William Bliss, owner of Bliss's Tweed Mills, realised the railway could be useful to him in allowing not only for his cloth products to be taken to buyers, but also for coal to be brought to the mills, which at the time used water power instead of steam. Bliss wrote to the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway in 1846 to ask for a railway link to Chipping Norton, but this did not yield results. [1] He wrote again to the railway company in September 1847, asking for a "passenger station at Bleddington Mill". [1] A meeting held at the Red Lion pub, Banbury, on 21 April 1851 promoted a railway to connect Banbury with the OW&W's route: this line ran further north than the Chipping Norton Railway would eventually run. [2]
A different project to that discussed in Banbury in 1851 was the "East & West of England Junction Railway", designed to leave the OW&Ws line at Bruern Crossing (which was as yet unbuilt), before joining the route which was to be later used for the Chipping Norton Railway. [3] In 1853, William Bliss, accompanied by Mr Wilkins of Chipping Norton, led a deputation to the OW&W with a request to have a station constructed at Bledington: this was refused, with representatives from the railway company being sent to explain their reasoning. [3] Bliss and Robert Hitchman, of Hitchman's Breweries, decided to get the railway line built themselves. Bliss met with Sir Samuel Moreton Peto in 1854 and discussed the matter of the railway. [3]
Construction on the Chipping Norton Railway began in September 1854 by Peto & Betts. John Fowler was the engineer. [3] The line was completed by Whit Monday 1855. [4] The line joined the existing OW&W route at Chipping Norton Junction (now Kingham) station. [3] It used the standard gauge of 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435mm). Sir Samuel Moreton Peto (of Peto & Betts) put £14,000 of his own money towards building the railway; another £12,000 was raised by subscription list from the inhabitants of Chipping Norton and the area by William Bliss to meet the total price estimate of £26,000. [3]
The Chipping Norton Railway was purchased by the OW&W after the latter deemed the railway financially sound in 1859. [4] That year also saw Parliament pass a Bill for an extension of six miles from Chipping Norton Junction to Bourton-on-the-Water, with a station being provided for Stow-on-the-Wold. [4] The West Midland Railway absorbed the OW&W in 1860, [4] and in 1862 trains began running between Bourton and Chipping Norton Junction (despite the new stations not yet being finished). [5]
In 1864, a proposal was made by John Fowler and Edward Wilson for an extension to the Chipping Norton Railway which would run through Swerford (instead of the route through Hook Norton eventually taken by the railway). This proposal also saw the extension connect to the Great Western Railway route one mile closer to Banbury than that which was eventually built. [5]
An extension to the Chipping Norton Railway between Chipping Norton and Kings Sutton opened on 6 April 1887. The cost of building the tunnel and two viaducts at Hook Norton was £25,000. [6] A flyover was constructed at Chipping Norton Junction in 1906, allowing for trains to run through from Banbury to Cheltenham without having to stop and reverse at the station. [6] The new stations on the extension were Rollright Halt, Hook Norton, Bloxham, and Adderbury. Stations were planned for Edward's Lime Kiln, Charlton Kings, and Great Rollright, but the former was not served. [7]
The Great Western Railway had, according to J.H. Russell, "already agreed to work the line in perpetuity" by 1875. [7]
World War Two saw many children from London being evacuated to small towns and villages in the countryside. Chipping Norton was one such place, and trains brought children from Acton and Ealing Broadway to places such as Oxford and Chipping Norton. These trains were some of the longest to have ever used the platforms at the station at Chipping Norton.
The line between Kingham and Chipping Norton is listed in the 1963 Beeching Report as being "under Consideration for Withdrawal before the Formulation of the Report", and that withdrawal was "already implemented". [8] The final passenger train ran on the line on 1 December 1962. [9] Freight traffic ended in 1964 and the line was then removed. [9]
The site that was once occupied by the station and goods yard is now part of an industrial estate, and only the cattle shed remains. The tunnel through the hill and bridge for the road still exist, but the tunnel has been closed and has become flooded due to the filling-in of the bridge.
Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about 12 miles (19 km) south-west of Banbury and 18 miles (29 km) north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population as 5,719. It was estimated at 6,254 in 2019.
The Cotswold Line is an 86+1⁄2-mile (139.2 km) railway line between Oxford and Hereford in England.
The Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right on completion of the "Organising for Quality" initiative on 6 April 1992. The Region consisted principally of ex-Great Western Railway lines, minus certain lines west of Birmingham, which were transferred to the London Midland Region in 1963 and with the addition of all former Southern Railway routes west of Exeter, which were subsequently rationalised.
Churchill is a village and civil parish about three miles southwest of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Since 2012 it has been part of the Churchill and Sarsden joint parish council area, sharing a parish council with the adjacent civil parish of Sarsden. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 665.
Kingham is a village and civil parish in the Cotswolds about 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 913.
The Varsity Line was the main railway line that linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway.
Kings Sutton railway station serves the village of King's Sutton in Northamptonshire, England. It is also one of the nearest railway stations to the town of Brackley. The station is managed by Chiltern Railways, who provide most of the services, including from London Paddington and Marylebone to Oxford and Banbury.
Kingham railway station in Oxfordshire, England, is between the Oxfordshire village of Kingham and the Gloucestershire village of Bledington, to which it is closer. It is also the closest station to the town of Chipping Norton.
The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) was a railway company in England. It built a line from Wolvercot Junction near Oxford to Worcester, Stourbridge, Dudley and Wolverhampton, as well as some branches.
The Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway (B&CDR) was a railway company through the Cotswolds in England that built a line between points near Banbury and Cheltenham. Its principal objective, as well as a general rural rail service, was the conveyance of iron ore from the East Midlands to South Wales.
The Oxford, Witney and Fairford Railway was a single track railway branch line, 22 miles (35 km) long, in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. It was opened in succession by two companies, the first in 1861 to connect the important woollen town of Witney to the main line network, and the second in 1873 as the rump of an ambitious scheme to connect to Cheltenham, but which ran only between Witney and Fairford. The junction with the main line was at Yarnton, north of Oxford.
Great Rollright is a village in the civil parish of Rollright, about 2.5 miles (4 km) north of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.
Sarsden Halt was an unstaffed railway station on the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway.
Hook Norton railway station served the village of Hook Norton in northern Oxfordshire, England.
Rollright Halt railway station served the village of Great Rollright in Oxfordshire, England.
Chipping Norton railway station served the town of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England. The station had two platforms and a signal box.
Yarnton Junction was a three-platform station serving the village of Yarnton, Oxfordshire. It was built in 1861 at the junction of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway and Witney Railway, north of Oxford. British Railways closed the station to passengers in 1962 and it was demolished c. 1965.
The Evesham branch line is a mostly disused English railway line running from Barnt Green via Redditch, Alcester and Evesham to Ashchurch. It was sometimes known as the Gloucester loop line of the Midland Railway.
The Birmingham and Oxford Junction Railway was an English railway line promoted by the Great Western Railway to gain a route from its southern base towards the industrial centres of the West Midlands, and in due course the north-west. It overtook another GWR subsidiary, the unbuilt Oxford and Rugby Railway, and the Birmingham Extension Railway which was to build a new independent station in the city. It was authorised in 1846 and formed a single project to connect Birmingham and Oxford.
The Stratford on Avon Railway was a branch railway line opened in 1860, to connect the town of Stratford-upon-Avon to the Great Western Railway main line at Hatton, in England. It was worked by the GWR. In 1861 it was connected through Stratford to a branch line from Honeybourne, and this later enabled the development of a through mineral traffic. The company was absorbed by the GWR in 1883.