Monument Type(s):

• RAILWAY STATION (Opened, Mid 19th century to 20th century (inter-war) - 1866 AD to 1933 AD)

Summary

Shrewsbury Abbey station was originally built as a main terminus of the Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway, to carry passengers and freight from Llanymynech. When the company was refused permission to use the existing mainline station in Shrewsbury, the terminus at Abbey Foregate was built and the line was opened on August 13th, 1866. The line was briefly revived in 1941 when the War Department requisitioned it during World War II. It was used to service the ammunition depot at Kinnerley. The line was at its busiest during the war years. The Pott’s line remained in use by the Army after the war and was eventually returned to passenger use by British Rail until it was closed in 1960.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA6063 - 2006 WB at Old Potts Railway Station, Shrewsbury by Castlering Archaeology (Ref: 242)
• ESA5024 - 1999 WB on installation of security measures at Abbey Foregate car park by SCCAS

Description

The Abbey terminus was opened in 1866 by the Potteries, Shrewsbury & North Wales (or Potts) Railway, as companies already using the main Shrewsbury railway station were obstructing its attempt to gain access rights there. The new station required the construction of a loop line from Sutton Junction. <1>

The station is marked on the OS 1st edition <2>
… but not the 2nd edition <3>

Watching brief carried out on the triangular section of land adjacent to Old Pott’s Railway station, Shrewsbury. 18 tree stumps were removed. Debris had built up in the area and the trees were growing on top of the remains of a brick floor c. 10cm below the current pavement level on Abbey Foregate. The uneven brick floor appeared to date to the 1911 phase of the station and included a cracked manhole cover. The area had been severely disturbed recently and no finds were recovered. ->

-> The station was originally built as a main terminus of the Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway, a company formed during the great railway boom in the second half of the 19th century. The line was planned to carry passengers and freight from Llanymynech. When the company was refused permission to use the existing mainline station in Shrewsbury, the terminus at Abbey Foregate was built and the line was opened on August 13th, 1866. The railway was never a success, suffering various periods of closures and relaunching. The line had become completely dormant by 1890 and the 1902 OS map records all lines removed. The line was reopened in 1911 by railway engineer, Colonel Holman Stephens who formed the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Light Railway Company in 1907. He also took over the narrow gauge mineral railway linking Snailbeach and Pontesbury in 1923. The isolated nature of the line and lack of significant freight traffic meant that it closed in 1933. The line was briefly revived in 1941 when the War Department requisitioned it during World War II. It was used to service the ammunition depot at Kinnerley. The line was at its busiest during the war years. The Pott’s line remained in use by the Army after the war and was eventually returned to passenger use by British Rail until it was closed in 1960. <4>

Richard Samuel France acquired land to the south of Abbey Foregate in the 1860s and demolished the Abbott's Lodgings and cleared Abbey Gardens to make way for railway yards, sidings and the Abbey Station. <5>

An article from 1988 on the Abbey Station, featuring a range of historic photographs. <6>

Shrewsbury Abby Station: open on 13/8/1866 and closed 21/12/1866; open again on ?/12/1868 and closed 22/6/1880; open again on 14/4/1911 and closed 6/11/1933. Terminus of the line, built because PS&NWR failed to reach agreement with GWR and LNWR to use a General station. Single bungalow brick with mock wooden canopy S of Abbey Forgate, opposite Abbey; two low platforms. Original loco shed etc.demolished by SR, and bridge over River Rea widened by them. S&M replaced original low platforms with a higher, longer island platform. Water tower, goods shed, sidings etc. <7>

Photograph taken 28th January 2017. All vestiges of the station, apart from the building removed in August 1990. The site is now a large town car and lorry park. <8>

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.