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The Shipston-on-Stour branch was a 9-mile (14 km)-long single-track branch railway line that ran between a junction near Moreton-in-Marsh, on the present day Cotswold Line, to Shipston-on-Stour, via two intermediate stations, Longdon Road, and Stretton-on-Fosse. [1]
The line started life as part of the horse-drawn Stratford and Moreton Tramway that ran between Moreton-in-Marsh and Stratford-Upon-Avon, with a branch to Shipston-on-Stour, which opened on 11 April 1836. The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) arrived at Moreton-in-Marsh in 1853, and they took over the tramway on a lease. The OW&WR upgraded the line to carry main-line wagons, but because the original authorising legislation prohibited the use of steam, it remained horse powered. [2]
In 1863, the Great Western Railway (GWR) took over the line, and in the 1880s set about converting the southern part of the route from Moreton-in-Marsh to Shipston-on-Stour into a steam operated railway, with the remainder of the route to Stratford allowed to fall into disuse. In order to do this, a new south facing spur had to be constructed near Longdon Road in 1882 to allow trains from Shipston to run south, as previously there was only a north-facing connection to the branch from the Stratford direction. The GWR obtained powers to allow the use of steam locomotives on the line, and finally it was reopened as a steam operated branch on 1 July 1889. [2]
Passenger services ended on 8 July 1929 and goods services on 2 May 1960. [2]
The line was single track throughout, without any passing loops, and so it was operated on the 'One Engine in Steam' principle, with only one train allowed on the branch at any one time. The branch had sharp curves and was steeply graded, and so had stiff speed restrictions, with passenger trains taking 45 minutes to run the 9 miles from Moreton to Shipston. [1]
There were originally four passenger trains, and one goods train per day. From 1922 this was reduced to three passenger trains, until the service was withdrawn and replaced by buses in 1929. The daily goods service continued until the late 1940s when it was reduced to running only a few times per week, until it was withdrawn in 1960. [1]
Moreton-in-Marsh is a market town in the Evenlode Valley, within the Cotswolds district and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Gloucestershire, England.
Shipston-on-Stour is a town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District in southern Warwickshire, England. It is located on the banks of the River Stour, 9 miles (15 km) south-southeast of Stratford-upon-Avon, 10 miles north-northwest of Chipping Norton, 14 miles (22 km) south of Warwick and 14.5 miles west of Banbury. In the 2021 census, Shipston-on-Stour had a population of 5,849.
The Stratford and Moreton Tramway was a 16-mile (25-km) long horse-drawn wagonway which ran from the canal basin at Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire to Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire, with a branch to Shipston-on-Stour. The main line opened in 1826, whilst the branch to Shipston opened in 1836
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.
The Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway was authorised in 1846. It agreed to joint construction with others of the costly Wolverhampton to Birmingham section, the so-called Stour Valley Line. This work was dominated by the hostile London and North Western Railway, which used underhand and coercive tactics. The section between Shrewsbury and Wellington was also built jointly, in this case with the Shropshire Union Railway.
Honeybourne railway station serves the village of Honeybourne in Worcestershire, England. Opened in 1853, it is on the Cotswold Line and was formerly a busy junction with five platform faces, also serving trains on the Great Western Railway's Honeybourne Line between Cheltenham Spa and Stratford-upon-Avon, which formed part of a strategic route between the West Midlands and the West of England.
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 South Staffordshire Railway (SSR) was authorised in 1847 to build a line from Dudley in the West Midlands of England through Walsall and Lichfield to a junction with the Midland Railway on the way to Burton upon Trent, with authorised share capital of £945,000. It was supported by the newly-formed London and North Western Railway (LNWR) and the Midland Railway, giving each company access to important areas. It completed its main line in 1849. As collieries in the Cannock region rose in importance, it built a second main line from Walsall to Rugeley, as well as numerous short spurs and connections to lines it intersected. Colliery working in the Cannock area expanded enormously, and mineral traffic carryings increased in step.
The Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway (WS&WR) was an early railway company in south-western England. It obtained Parliamentary powers in 1845 to build a railway from near Chippenham in Wiltshire, southward to Salisbury and Weymouth in Dorset. It opened the first part of the network but found it impossible to raise further money and sold its line to the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1850.
The Midland Railway branches around Walsall were built to give the Midland Railway independent access to Wolverhampton, and to a colliery district at Brownhills. The Midland Railway had a stake in the South Staffordshire Railway giving it access to Walsall, and the Walsall and Wolverhampton Railway (W&WR) was opened in 1872. At first the W&WR was independent and neutral, but it was acquired by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), and then sold by that company to the Midland Railway.
The Severn and Wye Railway began as an early tramroad network established in the Forest of Dean to facilitate the carriage of minerals to watercourses for onward conveyance. It was based on Lydney, where a small harbour was constructed, and opened its line to Parkend in 1810. It was progressively extended northwards, and a second line, the Mineral Loop was opened to connect newly opened mineral workings.
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 Forest of Dean Railway was a railway company operating in Gloucestershire, England. It was formed in 1826 when the moribund Bullo Pill Railway and a connected private railway failed, and they were purchased by the new company. At this stage it was a horse-drawn plateway, charging a toll for private hauliers to use it with horse traction. The traffic was chiefly minerals from the Forest of Dean, in the Whimsey and Churchway areas, near modern-day Cinderford, for onward conveyance from Bullo Pill at first, and later by the Great Western Railway.
Stretton-on-Fosse is a village in the Stratford District in Warwickshire, England. It is situated between the towns of Moreton-in-Marsh and Shipston-on-Stour. The village is situated along the ancient Fosse Way road which runs from Exeter in Devon to Lincoln in Lincolnshire. The road bypasses the village to the east and is now the modern-day A439 road. The village is close to the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire border. While the lower ground of the village is heavy clay the upper parts are composed of sand and shingle. During commercial extraction of sand important graves of the Roman-British and Anglo-Saxon periods were uncovered and interesting skeletons and personal belongings were unearthed. These burials were the result of internecine warfare between local tribal factions.
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, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway was an English railway company promoted to connect those places by rail. It was authorised by Parliament in 1846. It became apparent that it would be advantageous to merge with the Great Western Railway. The rival London and North Western Railway went to great lengths to frustrate the amalgamation, but ultimately failed, and the merger took place in 1847.
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.
Shipston-on-Stour railway station was a railway station which served the town of Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire. It was the terminus of the Shipston-on-Stour branch.
Stretton-on-Fosse railway station was a railway station which served the village of Stretton-on-Fosse, Warwickshire, England. It was located north-east of the village near the Fosse Way road.
Longdon Road railway station served the hamlet of Darlingscott, Warwickshire. It was on the branch line from Moreton-in-Marsh to Shipston.
