Taunton bus station

Last updated

Taunton bus station
2020 at Taunton bus station (1).JPG
Somerset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Somerset
General information
StatusClosed
TypeBus station
AddressTower Street
Town or city Taunton
Country England
Coordinates 51°00′55″N03°06′21″W / 51.01528°N 3.10583°W / 51.01528; -3.10583
Current tenants The Buses of Somerset
Completed1953
Opened1953
Closed27 March 2020
Design and construction
Architect(s)H. A. Starkey

Taunton bus station was situated on Tower Street, Taunton, Somerset, England. It was opened by the Western National Omnibus Company in 1953 and closed in 2020, by which time it was operated by The Buses of Somerset. In 2015 the Transport Trust awarded the station a Red Wheel plaque for its historic value.

Contents

Background

The National Omnibus and Transport Company started a service from Taunton to Burnham-on-Sea on 21 July 1920. The following year it began to operate town services in Taunton when the town's single tram line closed due to increases in the cost of electricity. [1] [2] National's operations in Somerset were transferred to the new Western National Omnibus Company (WNOC) when it was set up in 1929.

History

In the 1950s the WNOC started to build town centre bus stations; the first to be approved were at Taunton and Truro in 1949. [3] H.A. Starkey, the architect for the Tilling Group (of which the WNOC was part) designed the Taunton bus station [4] and it was built by F. & E. Small, who tendered £23,041 for the contract. [5] The station opened in 1953 [6] at a site on Tower Street near Taunton Castle. This enabled services to terminate on a dedicated site with passenger facilities rather than at four bus stops around The Parade which was the focal point of the town. [7] As the new bus station was WNOC property, independent operators continued to use their various terminal stops, such as outside the Kings Arms public house in Staplegrove Road beyond the Tone Bridge. [8] [9]

The WNOC and other Tilling Group companies became part of the National Bus Company in 1969 but continued to trade as Western National. In 1983 the bus operations at Taunton passed to a new Southern National (a name previously used by a Western National partner operation in Dorset and east Devon). This company was privatised in 1988, [10] [11] becoming part of FirstGroup in 1999. First Southern National was split up and operations around Taunton were transferred to First Somerset & Avon and rebranded as The Buses of Somerset in 2014 [12] before being transferred to First South West based in Camborne, Cornwall.

The Transport Trust awarded Taunton station a Red Wheel plaque in 2015, [13] describing it as "a rare survivor of a corporate style once common in towns and cities nationwide". [4]

Closure

The bus station was closed after services on 27 March 2020. The Buses of Somerset stated it would not be economical to perform required upgrades. [14] [15] Later in the year it was sold to the local council for use as a car park, although The Buses of Somerset leased back the offices as they had not found a suitable alternative in the town centre. [16]

Most bus services reverted to the stops on The Parade which had continued to be used by town services but some moved to the stop in Castle Way, [17] a street off Tower Street. Castle Way was used by many independent operators in later years, such as Dartline, Hatch Green, Quantock Motor Services, and South West Coaches, although Berrys Coaches' express service to London makes use of the stop at the King's Arms.

Maintenance facilities

The site in Tower Street did not have any maintenance facilities. The National company shared a depot with Thomas Motors' "Lavender Blue" buses at the end of South Street from 1920. In 1933 the WNOC bought this company and Dunn's Motor Services which had a depot in the old Bridgwater Road, now known as Hamilton Road. The new owners enlarged the latter site and it continues to be used by The Buses of Somerset. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taunton</span> County town of Somerset, England

Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the Bishops of Winchester. Parts of the inner ward house were turned into the Museum of Somerset and Somerset Military Museum. For the Second Cornish uprising of 1497, Perkin Warbeck brought an army of 6,000; most surrendered to Henry VII on 4 October 1497. On 20 June 1685 in Taunton the Duke of Monmouth crowned himself King of England in a rebellion, defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor. Judge Jeffreys led the Bloody Assizes in the Castle's Great Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chard, Somerset</span> Human settlement in England

Chard is a town and a civil parish in the English county of Somerset. It lies on the A30 road near the Devon and Dorset borders, 15 miles (24 km) south west of Yeovil. The parish has a population of approximately 14,000 and, at an elevation of 121 metres (397 ft), Chard is the southernmost and one of the highest towns in Somerset. Administratively Chard forms part of the district of South Somerset.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crewkerne</span> Human settlement in England

Crewkerne is a town and electoral ward in Somerset, England, 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Yeovil and 7 miles (11 km) east of Chard all in the South Somerset district. The civil parish of West Crewkerne includes the hamlets of Coombe, Woolminstone and Henley – and borders the county of Dorset to the south. The town is on the main headwater of the River Parrett, A30 road and West of England Main Line railway, in modern times the slower route between the capital and the southwest peninsula, having been eclipsed by the Taunton route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Badgerline</span>

Badgerline was a bus operator in and around Bristol from 1985 until 2003. Its headquarters were in Weston-super-Mare. Initially a part of the Bristol Omnibus Company, it was privatised in September 1986 and sold to Badgerline Holdings in a management buyout. It went on to purchase a number of bus companies in England and Wales. In November 1993, Badgerline Group was listed on the stock exchange and, on 16 June 1995, it merged with the GRT Group to form FirstBus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Bus Company (UK)</span> Bus operator in the United Kingdom between 1969 and 1988

The National Bus Company (NBC) was a nationalised bus company that operated in England and Wales between 1969 and 1988. NBC did not run buses itself, but was the owner of a number of regional subsidiary bus operating companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plymouth Citybus</span> Bus operator

Plymouth Citybus is a bus operator in Plymouth. It is a subsidiary of the Go South West sector of the Go-Ahead Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern National Omnibus Company</span> Former British bus operator

Eastern National was a bus company operating in south-east England, primarily in Essex, from 1929 to the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol Omnibus Company</span> Defunct public transportation company based in Bristol, UK (1887–1987)

The Bristol Omnibus Company was a dominant bus operator in Bristol, and was one of the oldest bus companies in the United Kingdom. It ran buses over a wide area of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and neighbouring counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First West of England</span> Bus operator

First West of England is a bus operator providing services in Bristol, Bath, Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Blue Coach Services</span>

Royal Blue Express Services was a coach operator in the south and west of England from 1880 until 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western National</span> Bus Company

Western National was a bus company operating in South West England from 1929 until the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern National</span>

Southern National was a bus company operating in South West England from 1929 until 1969, and again from 1983 until 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coach transport in the United Kingdom</span>

The United Kingdom has a number of intercity coach services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devon General</span>

Devon General was the principal bus operator in south Devon from 1919. The name was first used by the Devon General Omnibus and Touring Company which was created in 1919. In 1922 it was purchased by the National Electric Construction Company which merged with British Electric Traction in 1931. Nationalisation in 1969 resulted in 1971 with the company being merged into Western National. In 1983 a new Devon General Limited was created which became the first operating subsidiary of the National Bus Company to be privatised in 1986 when it became the first company of Transit Holdings. It was sold to the Stagecoach Group in 1996 and renamed Stagecoach Devon in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport in Somerset</span> Overview of transport in Somerset

The earliest known infrastructure for transport in Somerset is a series of wooden trackways laid across the Somerset Levels, an area of low-lying marshy ground. To the west of this district lies the Bristol Channel, while the other boundaries of the county of Somerset are along chains of hills that were once exploited for their mineral deposits. These natural features have all influenced the evolution of the transport network. Roads and railways either followed the hills, or needed causeways to cross the Levels. Harbours were developed, rivers improved, and linked to sources of traffic by canals. Railways were constructed throughout the area, influenced by the needs of the city of Bristol, which lies just to the north of Somerset, and to link the ports of the far south-west with the rest of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South West Coaches</span>

South West Coaches is a privately owned bus company that operates services around Dorset, Somerset, and Wiltshire, in South West England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buses in Bristol</span>

Buses are the main form of public transport in Bristol, England. Most bus services are operated by First West of England. Other companies offering services include Abus, Citistar, The Big Lemon, Transpora Bus, Stagecoach West and Newport Bus.

Somerton railway station Former railway station in England

Somerton railway station was a railway station situated on the Great Western Railway's Langport and Castle Cary Railway. It served the town of Somerton in Somerset, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Buses of Somerset</span> Bus operator in Taunton and Bridgwater

The Buses of Somerset is the trading name used by bus operator First South West for services operated in Somerset from depots in the towns of Taunton and Bridgwater since 2014. The services were formerly managed as part of First Somerset & Avon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berrys Coaches</span>

Berrys Coaches is a coach operator based in Taunton, Somerset. It was established in 1920 and is still a family owned business today.

References

  1. ↑ Morris, Colin (2008). Western National Omnibus Company. Ian Allan Publishing. p. 19. ISBN   978-0-7110-3174-6.
  2. ↑ Anderson, R.C.; Frankis, G.G. (1979). A History of Western National. David & Charles. p. 49. ISBN   0-7153-7771-X.
  3. ↑ Morris 2008, p. 51.
  4. 1 2 "Taunton bus station". Transport Trust. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  5. ↑ Morris 2008, p. 52.
  6. ↑ Anderson & Frankis 1979, p. 96.
  7. ↑ Chipchase, Nick (2007). Taunton Remembered. Sutton Publishing. p. 16.
  8. ↑ James, Laurie (2004). Somerset's Buses. Tempus Publishing. p. 53. ISBN   0-7524-3171-4.
  9. ↑ Morris 2008, p. 38.
  10. ↑ Hansard House of Commons 18 April 1988
  11. ↑ Buses issue 648 March 2009
  12. ↑ First introduces The Buses of Somerset Euro Transport 30 January 2014
  13. ↑ "Taunton 2015". Taunton Running Day. 31 January 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  14. ↑ "First plans to sell its Taunton bus station". Buses, issue 779, February 2020, page 8
  15. ↑ Salter, Stephen (5 March 2020). "Taunton Bus Station to close after 67 years". Somerset County Gazette. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  16. ↑ "Cars to occupy Taunton bus station". Buses . No. November 2020. p. 14.
  17. ↑ "Taunton Bus Station Closure" (PDF). The Buses of Somerset. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  18. ↑ Morris 2008, p. 39.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.