Savernake Low Level railway station

Savernake Low Level
Location
Place	Burbage
Area	Wiltshire
Grid reference	SU236632
Operations
Original company	Berks and Hants Extension Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Platforms	3
History
11 November 1862	Opened as Savernake
1 July 1924	Renamed Savernake Low Level
11 September 1961	Renamed Savernake for Marlborough
18 April 1966	Closed
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Savernake Low Level railway station was a station on the Berks and Hants Extension Railway, near the village of Burbage in Wiltshire, England. It was open from 1862 until 1966.

History

A 1906 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of Savernake Low Level (shown here as G.W. STA.)

The Berks and Hants Extension Railway, which ran from Hungerford to Devizes, opened on 11 November 1862, and the station named Savernake was opened with the line.^[1][2] It was situated between Bedwyn and Pewsey stations,^[3] about 0.6 miles (1 km) northeast of the village of Burbage where the line passed over the road to Durley.^[4] The site is directly above the Bruce Tunnel which carries the Kennet and Avon Canal.

There was a goods station at Burbage Wharf, about three-quarters of a mile to the west, providing an interchange between the railway, the canal and the road to Marlborough. This was closed in 1947.^[5]

On 15 April 1864, the Marlborough Railway opened its short branch line to Marlborough, which was operated by the Great Western and then taken over by it, and Savernake became a junction.^[6]

When the Reading to Taunton line was created and the Stert to Westbury cut-off opened in 1900, the platforms at Savernake were lengthened, the footbridge roofed and brick waiting rooms provided on the down platform. Until 1916, Savernake then had six trains a day, plus up to six slip coaches from Paddington, the fastest covering the 70 mi (110 km) to Savernake in 75 minutes. In the 1950s Savernake had ten trains a day on the main line, seven to Marlborough and two other Midland and South Western Junction Railway trains.^[7]

On 1 July 1924, the station was renamed Savernake Low Level; the nearby station on the former Midland and South Western Junction Railway line becoming Savernake High Level at the same time.^[2]

The station was renamed Savernake for Marlborough on 11 September 1961 when the High Level station officially closed,^[2] although through trains on the former M&SWJR had used Savernake Low Level for some time because of a landslip on the original line.

The station closed on 18 April 1966^[2] but the first-built line remains in use, providing a route from Reading and Hungerford to Westbury and beyond.

Routes

References

1. MacDermot, E.T. (1927). History of the Great Western Railway, vol. I: 1833-1863. Paddington: Great Western Railway. p. 438.
2. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 206. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
3. Conolly, W. Philip (January 1976). British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer (5th ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 4, section A5. ISBN 0-7110-0320-3. EX/0176.
4. Crowley, D.A. (ed.). "Victoria County History - Wiltshire - Vol 16 pp69-82 - Burbage". British History Online. University of London. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
5. Oakley, Mike (2004). Wiltshire Railway Stations. Wimborne: The Dovecote Press. p. 116. ISBN 1904349331.
6. MacDermot, E.T. (1931). History of the Great Western Railway, vol. II: 1863-1921. Paddington: Great Western Railway. p. 6.
7. Railway Magazine March 1958 T B Sands: Savernake, a Railway Crossroads in Wiltshire pp. 195-201

External links

• Savernake Station on navigable O.S. map

Coordinates: 51°22′03″N 1°39′44″W / 51.3675°N 1.6621°W