Sharpness railway station

Last updated

Sharpness
General information
Location Sharpness, Stroud
England
Grid reference SO676028
Platforms2 (1 from 1931)
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company Midland Railway
Pre-grouping Severn and Wye and Severn Bridge Railway (GWR & MR joint line)
Post-groupingS&W&SBR
Key dates
1 August 1876 (1876-08-01)First station opened
16 October 1879Station resited on different line
2 November 1964 (1964-11-02)Second station closed

Sharpness railway station served the village and docks of Sharpness in Gloucestershire, England from 1875 to 1964.

Contents

History

A 1911 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of Sharpness Bilson, Cinderford, Coleford, Lydbrook & Lydney RJD 86.jpg
A 1911 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of Sharpness
Sharpness branch line
For canal icons used below, please refer to waterways legend instead.

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Dean Forest Railway
(To Parkend)
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Severn Bridge
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BSicon STRq.svg
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BSicon exSTRc4.svg
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BSicon lhSTRa@f.svg
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Gloucester–Newport line
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Severn Railway Bridge over River Severn
(Dismantled 1970)
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BSicon lhSTRe@g.svg
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Swing bridge over Gloucester and Sharpness Canal
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BSicon uddHSTRf.svg
BSicon uLockr.svg
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Sharpness Old Port
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BSicon exSKRZ-Yu.svg
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BSicon uSTR.svg
BSicon 3STR+1.svg
BSicon 3BRIDGEq-.svg
BSicon 3STRq-.svg
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BSicon x3ABZg+4.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
Sharpness
(closed 1964)
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BSicon KDSTe.svg
BSicon uWHRF.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon exSTR.svg
Sharpness Docks
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BSicon KRWgl.svg
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New Docks Branch
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BSicon STR.svg
Sharpness New Port
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BSicon KDSTaq.svg
BSicon STRq.svg
BSicon STRq.svg
BSicon kSTRr+1.svg
BSicon STRc2.svg
BSicon kSTRc4.svg
BSicon STR3.svg
BSicon uCONTf.svg
BSicon STR+1.svg
BSicon STRc4.svg
BSicon eHST.svg
Berkeley
(closed 1964)
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Cross Country Route
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon KRW+l.svg
BSicon KRWgr.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon eXBHF-L.svg
BSicon eXBHF-R.svg
Berkeley Road
(closed 1965)
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BSicon xABZqr.svg
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Berkeley Loop
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Cross Country Route
(To Bristol)

The station was on the Sharpness Branch Line, part of the Midland Railway, which connected the Bristol and Gloucester Railway main line at Berkeley Road station with the docks at Sharpness. The Sharpness New Docks & Gloucester & Birmingham Navigation Company started operation at Sharpness in 1874. [1] The branch line was opened to freight traffic in August 1875 with passenger services starting a year later. [2]

Sharpness station was originally a terminus for the passenger services and was no more than a temporary platform next to the docks. But in 1879, the Sharpness branch became a through-route with the opening of the Severn Railway Bridge, connecting Sharpness with the Forest of Dean side of the Severn Estuary and enabling through services between Berkeley Road and Lydney Town railway station, some of which ran on to Lydbrook. [3] The new station, built on a curve, had a brick building on the "up" platform (towards Berkeley) and a small shelter on the down platform. Children from Sharpness attending school in Lydney were among the passengers. After 1931, the line was singled.

Through-services to Lydney on the line ceased abruptly in October 1960 when the Severn Railway Bridge was damaged beyond economic repair in a shipping accident, and Sharpness resumed its earlier status as a branch line terminus. Passenger services ceased on the branch in November 1964 and goods facilities were withdrawn in January 1966. The station buildings were demolished. The line to the docks is still open for very occasional freight services.

The Vale of Berkeley Railway Group has campaigned to restore the station and railway. [4]

On 22 October 2019, Stroud District Council announced a draft plan to build a railway station in Sharpness, to support housebuilding plans. [5]

Services

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Berkeley   Sharpness Branch Line  Terminus
  Severn Bridge Railway   Severn Bridge

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The Severn Bridge Railway was a railway company which constructed a railway from Lydney to Sharpness in Gloucestershire, England. It was intended chiefly to give access for minerals in the Forest of Dean to Sharpness Docks, and the company built a long bridge, 1,387 yards (1,268 m) in length, over the River Severn. The line opened in 1879.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speech House Road railway station</span> Former railway station in England

Speech House Road railway station is a disused railway station opened by the former Severn and Wye Railway in 1875, it remained open for 88 years until the line, north of Parkend, closed to freight in 1963. Passenger trains on the Severn and Wye Railway, north of Lydney, were withdrawn from 1929.

References

  1. "Gloucester: Quay and docks Pages 251-258 A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 4, the City of Gloucester". British History Online. Victoria County History, 1988. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  2. Mike Oakley (2003). Gloucestershire Railway Stations. Wimborne: Dovecote Press. p. 121. ISBN   1-904349-24-2.
  3. "Lydney Pages 46-84 A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5, Bledisloe Hundred, St. Briavels Hundred, the Forest of Dean". British History Online. Victoria County History, 1996. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  4. "Vale of Berkeley Railway". Vale of Berkeley Railway. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  5. "Stroud plans garden villages and new railway station". BBC News. 22 October 2019.

Coordinates: 51°43′22″N2°28′11″W / 51.7228°N 2.4697°W / 51.7228; -2.4697