Sarsden Halt railway station

Sarsden Halt
General information
Location	Oxfordshire
Platforms	1
History
Original company	Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
2 July 1906	Opened
1 December 1962	Closed to passengers
7 September 1964	Line closed

Sarsden Halt was an unstaffed railway station on the line from Kingham to Chipping Norton. It opened in July 1906 at the location of an existing goods siding and closed in December 1962

History

The Chipping Norton Branch (from Kingham on the Oxford-Worcester line) opened in June 1855. From the start a goods siding was provided at Churchill Mill. The inspector's report prior to the opening of the line refers to a siding at Churchill, on the 1899 Ordnance Survey map it is named as as “Sarsden Siding”.

The name “Sarsden Siding” is interesting since the location is nowhere near the village of Sarsden and actually served the village of Churchill. The reason for the name is unknown, but the following factors may have had a bearing.

Firstly, James Haughton Langston MP of Sarsden House was one of the promoters of the railway and owned much of the land on which it was built. Much of the traffic to the siding would be destined for his estate, which included the village of Churchill. James Haughton Langston had earlier attempted to obtain a railway siding on the Oxford-Worcester line in 1852 as recorded in the Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway's Traffic Committee minutes for the 20th November:

A letter was read from Mr. Varden relative to a siding near Sarsden. Resolved that Mr. Lewis and Mr. Busby with the Superintendent call upon Mr. Langston and ascertain the amount of traffic likely to be put upon the line to and from the point where the siding is required.

This siding on the main line was never built.

Secondly the OWWR already had a station at Churchill near Kidderminster (later Churchill & Blakedown, now Blakedown). The desire to avoid wagons being routed to the wrong destination would suggest the use of a name other than the obvious geographic name Churchill.

The siding was in the form of a loop and about 480 feet long. The loop points were unlocked by a key on the train staff.

A level crossing carried the road from Churchill to Churchill Mill. Initially this was not regarded as a public crossing as it served only the mill yard but later hand-operated gates were provided.

In 1883 work began on the building of the Kingham Hill Homes (now Kingham Hill School), one mile to the North-West. Kingham Station was not equipped for the handling of goods traffic so supplies for the school, including coal and provisions, were consigned to Sarsden Siding. Horse-drawn vehicles from the school accessed the siding via the mill yard. Access was liable to be prevented, for example when the miller was operating a threshing machine in the yard. Because of these problems Churchill Mill was purchased by the school and road traffic between the school and Churchill now passed over the level crossing. The price paid by the school to purchase the mill was considerably in excess of the market value and can only be explained by the importance placed on gaining unrestricted road access to Sarsden Siding.

In 1893 a signal box was built but in March 1899 it was reduced to the status of a ground frame. The box continued to carry the nameboard “Sarsden Signal Box” until closure. It contained six levers controlling two distant signals, the gate locks and the points at the Kingham end of the siding.

The passenger halt was opened on 2nd July 1906 and was of standard Great Western design with timber platform and “pagoda” shelter. The designation “Halt” means it was unstaffed and tickets were purchased on the train.

A cart weighbridge was built in 1913 and a crossing-keeper's house in 1930

Sarsden Halt closed with the ending of passenger services on the Chipping Norton Branch on the 1st December 1962. The final train was hauled by BR standard class 2 number 78001. The line was closed for all purposes on the 7th September 1964. The final goods train through Sarsden Halt was hauled by Prairie Tank 4104.

Goods traffic

Sarsden Siding had a curious status. It was not a private siding yet neither was it public in the sense that small consignments of goods could be sent and received there. Traffic seems to have been handled in full wagonloads only. Despite this, the siding was well used handling mainly agricultural traffic including milk. Coal was also delivered. Exact traffic figures are not available as the totals were counted in with Chipping Norton.

Passenger traffic

Again detailed figures are not available. Most trains on the line called at the Halt, which was used by passengers from the village of Churchill and from Kingham Hill School. One train that did not usually stop was the daily Newcastle to South Wales express but even this would call at the Halt for long-distance passengers if twenty four hours notice was given.

Present-day remains.

The crossing-keepers house is the only building now remaining. The small group of houses at Churchill Mill is nowadays known as “Sarsden Halt”. The wooden timetable board has been preserved and can be seen at Winchcombe Railway Museum. One of the platform oil lamps, a signal lamp and a wheel off the sack truck have been privately preserved. The Sarsden Halt nameboard and signal box nameplate are not thought to have survived.

References

• Hemmings, William (2004). The Banbury & Cheltenham Railway Volume One. Didcot: Wild Swan Publications. ISBN 1 874103 88 7. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Hemmings, William (2004). The Banbury & Cheltenham Railway Volume Two. Didcot: Wild Swan Publications. ISBN 1 874103 89 5. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Jenkins, Stanley (2004). The Banbury & Cheltenham Direct Railway. Lydney: Lightmoor Press. ISBN 1 899889 15 9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Mann, Ralph. "Kingham Hill School - the Early Years". Retrieved 2009-02-22. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Kingham		Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway Great Western Railway		Chipping Norton

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Kingham		Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway Great Western Railway		Sarsden sideing