Blunsdon railway station

Blunsdon railway station is a former railway station, now operating as a heritage railway station. It was built to serve the village of Blunsdon, north of Swindon in Wiltshire, England, although located within the boundaries of Purton.

Blunsdon
Station on heritage railway
Hudswell Clarke saddle tank Tubby at Blunsdon
Location	Blunsdon, Swindon England
Coordinates	51.60702°N 1.84362°W
Grid reference	SU109897
Platforms	1
History
Original company	Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland and South Western Junction Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
1895	opened
1924	closed for passengers
1 August 1937	closed for goods

Railway lines in Swindon
Highworth branch line Great Western main line to London Stratton Stratton Park Halt Stratton St Margaret Works Midland & Sth Western Jn Rly to Cheltenham Midland & Sth Western Jn Rly to Southampton Hayes Knoll Chiseldon Camp Halt Blunsdon Chiseldon Moredon Halt Swindon Town Moredon Power Station Swindon Rushey Platt Purton Golden Valley line Wootton Bassett Junction South Wales Main Line to Swansea Great Western main line to Bristol

History

Blunsdon was one of the last stations to be opened by the Midland and South Western Junction Railway in 1895 on a railway that had opened in 1883. It was little more than a single-platform halt, and milk was the main traffic. It also had a single siding, used for such traffic as fertiliser and other agricultural requirements.

It was also one of the first stations on the route to be closed. Regular passenger trains stopped calling in 1922, leaving one solitary passenger train service stopping at Blunsdon on a Sunday until 1924. The station closed completely on 1 August 1937 when goods traffic ceased.[1]

Heritage railway

The site became the headquarters of the Swindon and Cricklade Railway in the late 1970s because it offered the best road access to the trackbed between Swindon and Cricklade. By that time, almost every trace of the original station had gone, and the present structures are all new.

Blunsdon station offers a variety of services including the Swindon and Cricklade railway shop, canteen/buffet, toilets and car parking space.

Route

Preceding station	Heritage railways			Following station
Hayes Knoll		Swindon & Cricklade Railway		Taw Valley Halt
	Disused railways
Cricklade		Midland and South Western Junction Railway Swindon & Cheltenham Extension Railway		Moredon Halt

References

• Wiltshire Railway Stations, Mike Oakley, Dovecote Press, Wimborne, 2004, ISBN 1-904349-33-1

1. "Railways Pages 280-293 A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 4. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1959". British History Online. Retrieved 16 July 2020.

External links

• Information about Blunsdon station on the Swindon and Cricklade Railway website.