Farthinghoe railway station

Farthinghoe was a railway station which served the Northamptonshire village of Farthinghoe in England. It opened in 1851 as part of the Buckinghamshire Railway's branch line to Verney Junction which provided connections to Bletchley and Oxford and closed in 1963.

Farthinghoe
Station in 1959.
Location
Place	Farthinghoe
Area	South Northamptonshire
Grid reference	SP522403
Operations
Original company	Buckinghamshire Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway London Midland Region of British Railways
Platforms	1
History
c. October 1851	Opened[1]
3 November 1952	Closed to passengers[2]
2 December 1963	Closed to goods[3]
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

History

Situated in an isolated location over a mile from the village from which it took its name[4] - and further still from two others it was supposed to serve: Greatworth and Middleton Cheney[5] - Farthinghoe station first appeared in timetables in October 1851.[1] Its precise opening date is unknown, but was almost certainly within one year of the line's inauguration.[4]

The Buckinghamshire Railway provided basic facilities which consisted of a single wooden platform and solitary goods siding on the up side of the line. The main station building, a part-timber and part-brick structure in an "H" shape, was of unusual construction, with the main ticket office and booking hall housed in a one-storey weather-boarded wing with a steeply-pitched gable roof which projected over the platform as a sort of makeshift canopy. The stationmaster occupied an adjacent two-storey building which was linked with the ticket office by a two-storey tile-hung central block which contained a waiting room. The style of construction can be explained by the Buckingham Railway's need to save on costs in the face of an economic crisis.[6]

The station boasted limited goods facilities, with a cattle dock and weigh bridge provided for the mainly agricultural traffic. Until the mid-1930s, goods trains would shunt the siding daily with regular loads of pink roadstone granite as well as coal for W. Palmer & Son, local coal merchants. The Second World War saw Farthinghoe handle ammunition destined for the RAF's Hinton-in-the-Hedges Airfield.[7]

Station location in 1992

Farthinghoe station was situated on the busiest section of the line, the 5½ mile stretch from Merton Street to Cockley Brake, where there was a junction with the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway (SMJ).[8] Opened on 1 June 1872, the section provided connections to Towcester and Blisworth.[9] The LNWR and SMJ jointly served Farthinghoe and Merton Street until they were absorbed into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway on 1 January 1923 upon the railway grouping. The station lost its stationmaster from 1930 and came under the control of Banbury, only 3½ miles away.[10] Former SMJ passenger services were withdrawn as from 2 July 1951.[9] Farthinghoe was itself to close to passengers the following year.[11]

Routes

A 1911 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of Farthinghoe

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Banbury Merton Street Line and station closed		London and North Western Railway Banbury to Verney Junction Branch Line		Brackley Line and station closed
		Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway Northampton and Banbury Junction Railway		Helmdon Village Line and station closed

Present day

The station buildings have been demolished and replaced by a council dump and pulveriser plant.[1] One feature has, however, survived - a plum tree which stood in the stationmaster's garden.[12] The meadow which adjoined the station and which was used for holding cattle and sheep prior to transfer to Banbury Market is now part of Farthinghoe Nature Reserve.[13][14]

References

1. Subterranea Britannica, "Farthinghoe", 30 March 2006.
2. Butt, R.V.J., p. 95.
3. Clinker, C.R., p. 47.
4. Simpson, B., p. 73.
5. Kingscott, G., p. 61.
6. Jenkins, S.C., p. 83.
7. Simpson, B., p. 78.
8. Davies, R. and Grant, M.D., p. 103.
9. Davies, R. and Grant, M.D., p. 104.
10. Kingscott, G., p. 62.
11. Davies, R. and Grant, M.D., p. 221.
12. Howarth, R., "Tales of Northamptonshire's lost railway lines", icNorthants, 15 October 2008.
13. "Banbury Guardian, "Farthinghoe"". Archived from the original on 8 August 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
14. Kingscott, G., p. 66.

Sources

• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
• Clinker, C.R. (October 1978). Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830-1977. Bristol, Avon: Avon-AngliA Publications & Services. ISBN 0-905466-19-5.
• Davies, R.; Grant, M.D. (1984). Forgotten Railways: Chilterns and Cotswolds. Newton Abbot, Devon: David St John Thomas. ISBN 0-946537-07-0.
• Jenkins, Stanley C. (1990). The Northampton & Banbury Junction Railway. Headington, Oxfordshire: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-390-7.
• Kingscott, Geoffrey (2008). Lost Railways of Northamptonshire (Lost Railways Series). Newbury, Berkshire: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-108-1.
• Simpson, Bill (1994). Banbury to Verney Junction Branch. Banbury, Oxfordshire: Lamplight Publications. ISBN 978-1-899246-00-7.

External links

• Image of the station site