Location :
Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Gloucestershire
Tewkesbury, South Northamptonshire, Cherwell, Cotswold, West Oxfordshire, Cheltenham
Up Hatherley, Charlton Kings, Dowdeswell, Hook Norton, Chipping Norton, Over Norton, Milcombe, Sevenhampton, Naunton, Lower Slaughter, Whittington, Bourton-on-the-Water, Adderbury, Shipton, Cold Aston, Kings Sutton, Bloxham, Hazleton, Andoversford, Leckhampton with Warden Hill, Milton, Notgrove, Hawling, Wigginton, Rollright
Non Civil Parish
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| Summary : Disused Railway. What emerged finally as the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Line was an amalgamation of 3 schemes built over the period 1855-87. The first scheme was the 4.5 mile of branch line built by the Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Company from its main line at Kingham East to Chipping Norton in 1855, (Linear 958). The second scheme began in 1860 when the West Midland Railway obtained approval to build a 6.5 mile long line from Kingham to Bourton on the Water, being completed in 1862, (Linear 959). In 1873, the GWR gained approval to connect Banbury and Cheltenham incorporating these 2 routes. The first section between Cheltenham and Bourton was completed in 1881, and the line was completed in 1887 when the Chipping Norton section to King's Sutton on the Birmingham and Oxford line opened. The line's importance was that it ran through the Oxfordshire ironstone field which gained prominence in the latter part of the century. Many mines were connected to the line by either narrow or standard gauge systems. Passenger services began to reduce after 1939, several local stations closing in 1951. Cheltenham - Bourton and Kingham - Chipping Norton closed in 1962, Hook Norton - Adderbury in 1963. Adderbury - King's Sutton closed finally in 1969, and the 2 freight stubs from Kingham and Bourton and Chipping Norton closed in 1964. |
More information : (SO 92882174 to SO 95002037) Dismantled Railway (NAT). (1)
The Great Western Railway line from Cheltenham (SO 928217) to King 's
Sutton, Banbury (SP 495357) was opened in 1881. The line from Kings
Sutton to Chipping Norton (SP 307629) was closed 4th June
1951, the line from Kingham (SP 256227) to Lansdown Junction,
Cheltenham was closed 15th October 1962 and the last section between
Kingham and Chipping Norton closed 3rd December 1962. (2) & (3)
(SO 928217 - SP 496355) The railway from Cheltenham to Banbury was
built by three companies from 1855-7. First came the Chipping Norton
Branch, opened on 30th August 1855 by the Oxford Worcester and
Wolverhampton Company. Meanwhile the West Midland Company completed
the Bourton-on-the-Water Railway running west from Chipping Norton,
which opened on 1st March 1862. In 1873 the Banbury and Cheltenham
Direct Railway emerged from a number of schemes: Cheltenham to
Bourton-on-the-Water opening on 1st June 1881 and Chipping Norton to
King's Sutton on 6th April 1887. (See Illustration Card) Services
were gradually withdrawn and the railway closed down between 1951 and
1964. (4)
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