Rowden Mill railway station

Rowden Mill railway station was a railway station located on the Worcester, Bromyard and Leominster Railway in England.

Rowden Mill
Open day, August 1997
Location	Wacton, Herefordshire, Herefordshire England
Coordinates	52.2057°N 2.5469°W
Grid reference	SO627566
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Leominster and Bromyard Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
1 September 1897	Station opened
September 1949	Unstaffed
15 September 1952	Station closed

Opening

Opened as part of the final section of the Worcester, Bromyard and Leominster Railway, the railway was bought out of bankruptcy by the Great Western Railway in 1888, who completed the line in 1897.[1]

Closure

Post the Second World War, and with the greater use of the motorbus and private cars, traffic on the line fell considerably. Unstaffed as a station from September 1949, the line closed to regular passenger services on 15 September 1952.[2]

On 26 April 1958 a special train organised by the Stephenson Locomotive Society ran from Worcester via Bromyard to Leominster, calling in at Rowden Mill, Fencote and Steens Bridge. The 50 society members/passengers rode on the last train that would run on the complete track before it was removed. The Worcester to Bromyard section, kept open for the storage of disused and soon to be scrapped railway wagons, was closed under the Beeching Axe in 1964.[3]

Present

View of Rowden Mill station in 2010, showing British Rail Class 03 shunter No.D2371, GWR Toad brake van and various wagons

Rowden Mill was bought and restored from 1984,.[2] Sections of the track either side of station were also reinstalled. Rolling stock of various types including coaches, brake vans and goods vans have been located on the line at various times in the recent past. In March 1989, Rowden Mill received the British Rail Award in the Ian Allan Publishing Railway Heritage Awards for the Best Renovated Non-Working station.[4] Rowden Mill Station now operates as a holiday letting business, making the station buildings available as accommodation to visiting guests.

References

1. "The Worcester, Bromyard & Leominster Railway". Herefordshire County Council. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
2. Leslie Oppitz. "The Lost Railway". BBC Hereford and Worcester. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
3. "Bromyard to Leominster". Geoff Pages. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
4. Leslie Oppitz. "Westwards from Worcester". BBC Hereford and Worcester. Retrieved 13 June 2012.

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2004). Worcester to Hereford. Middleton Press. figs. 32-33. ISBN 9781904474388. OCLC 862604858.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Fencote Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Worcester, Bromyard and Leominster Railway		Bromyard Line and station closed