Shapwick railway station

Shapwick station was a railway station on the Highbridge branch of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. Opened by the Somerset Central Railway in 1854, the station consisted of a goods yard, a passing loop with two platforms, and a wooden station building which burned down and was replaced in 1900.

Shapwick
Shapwick in 1960
General information
Location	Shapwick, Sedgemoor England
Grid reference	ST423412
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Pre-grouping	Somerset Central Railway
Post-grouping	SR and LMS Western Region of British Railways
Key dates
28 August 1854	Opened
7 March 1966	Closed

The passing-loop and a level crossing were operated from a 17-lever signal box, which was opened in 1901 to replace one destroyed in the 1900 fire.

The station was two and a half miles from the village of Shapwick and appeared in some early timetables as "Shapwick Road", though this does not seem to have ever been an official name.

The station was closed, with the rest of the branch, on 7 March 1966.

The line and station were held in fond regard by John Betjeman who in 1963 featured them in a BBC programme, Let's Imagine: a Branch Line Railway,^[1] in which Betjeman travels from Evercreech Junction^[2] to Burnham on Sea.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Ashcott Line and station closed		Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway LSWR and Midland Railways		Edington Junction Line and station closed

Further reading

• R.V.J. Butt (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1

External links

• Station page at Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway site
• Station on navigable O.S. map

References

1. Let's Imagine - A Branch Line Railway with John Betjeman, retrieved 26 February 2022
2. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: BRANCH LINE - 1 - Sir John Betjeman. YouTube.

51.1670°N 2.8267°W / 51.1670; -2.8267