Leamington Spa (Avenue) railway station

Leamington Spa Avenue railway station was a station serving Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. It opened in 1854, and was located immediately to the north of the current surviving Leamington Spa railway station, it offered services to Coventry, Rugby and Weedon. It closed in 1965.

Leamington Spa (Avenue)
Leamington Spa Avenue station in 1918
General information
Location	Leamington Spa, Warwick England
Coordinates	52.2852°N 1.5378°W / 52.2852; -1.5378
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	LNWR
Pre-grouping	LNWR
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway London Midland Region of British Railways
Key dates
February 1854	Station opens
18 January 1965	Station closed
Location

History

It was opened in February 1854 by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR),^[1] three years after the line from Coventry to Leamington was extended from its original terminus at Milverton into the centre of Leamington, and joined end-on to the branch line to Rugby.^[2] It was built alongside the Great Western Railway's Leamington station (which is still in operation) and provided a more convenient station in Leamington than the LNWR's original Milverton terminus. The original station was temporary, and made from wood, it was rebuilt as a permanent brick station in 1860.^[3]

Leamington Spa Avenue provided passenger services towards Coventry, Rugby and, from 1895 Weedon via Daventry. The local passenger services to Weedon were withdrawn in 1958, and those to Rugby in 1959, but the lines remained open a few years longer for freight. The Coventry service remained until it too was withdrawn, and the station closed in 1965 as a part of the Beeching cuts.^[4] The Coventry line continued for freight, and was diverted into the former Great Western station and the branches towards Rugby and Weedon were closed. The site of the station was levelled in 1977 to make way for redevelopment.^[2] The site was originally covered by a garage, bus depot and public car park. In the late 2010s the site was cleared to make way for low rise residential housing and offices.

• 
  1898 map of Leamington showing the position of Milverton, Avenue and the GWR stations
• 
  Site of Avenue station in 2005
• 
  The site of Avenue station in 2023

References

1. Clinker, C.R. (1954). Railways of the West Midlands a Chronology 1808-1954. London: Stephenson Locomotive Society. p. 23.
2. Hurst, Geoffrey (1993). LNWR Branch Lines of West Leicestershire & East Warwickshire (First ed.). Milepost Publications. pp. 44–59. ISBN 0-947796-16-9.
3. "Leamington Avenue Station (LNWR)". Warwickshire Railways. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
4. "Railways to Royal Leamington Spa". Leamington History Group. Retrieved 25 March 2023.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Terminus		London and North Western Railway Weedon–Leamington Spa line		Southam & Long Itchington Line and station closed
Terminus		London and North Western Railway Leamington–Rugby line		Marton Line and station closed
Warwick (Milverton) Line open, station closed		London and North Western Railway Coventry–Leamington line		Terminus