Crewkerne railway station


Crewkerne railway station is located in Misterton in Somerset, England, and serves the area around the town of Crewkerne. It is from on the West of England Main Line to Exeter. The main building is listed Grade II and is surrounded by several other old railway buildings.

History

The station was opened on 19 July 1860 when the LSWR opened its Yeovil and Exeter Railway. A wooden signal box was erected in 1875 on the eastbound platform, just east of the main offices.
In 1923 the LSWR became part of the Southern Railway following the Railways Act 1921, and on 1 January 1948 the Southern Railway was itself nationalised to become the Southern Region of British Railways. On 24 April 1953 it was the scene of an accident when an axle of Merchant Navy Class 35020 Bibby Line broke while it was passing the station. This caused the platform canopy to be demolished.
A new signal box was built in 1960 a little to the east of the old one, which was then demolished. In January 1963 all the lines in the area transferred to the Western Region and on 7 May 1967 the main line was rationalised. The section between and was reduced to just a single track, although this has since been shortened to just between and Chard Junction, where there is a loop, followed by more single track to east of Axminster.

Description

The station is about a mile southeast of Crewkerne on the A356 road, which crosses the platform and railway on a bridge. The entrance and platform are on the north side of the line, which is climbing westwards at 1 in 80 to the Crewkerne Tunnel. The main building was designed by Sir William Tite and has been designated as a Grade II listed building. North of the station is a builder's yard which is on the site of the old railway goods yard. The office by the main road was used to operate the weighbridge, and the old goods shed can be seen near the railway line. Between this and the platform is the disused signal box.

Services

The station is managed by South Western Railway who operate an hourly service throughout most of the week between and London Waterloo station.