Ross-on-Wye railway station

Former railway station in Herefordshire, England

51°54′59″N 2°34′28″W / 51.9163°N 2.5745°W / 51.9163; -2.5745Grid referenceSO605243Platforms3Other informationStatusDisusedHistoryOriginal companyHereford, Ross and Gloucester RailwayPre-groupingGreat Western RailwayPost-groupingGreat Western RailwayKey dates1 June 1855Opened2 November 1964closed for passengers1 November 1965Closed for freight traffic
Ross-on-Wye Station, with Hereford - Gloucester train in 1958
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Hereford, Ross
and Gloucester Railway
Legend
Welsh Marches line (S&HR)
Cotswold Line (OW&WR)
Hereford Barrs Court
Hereford Barton
River Wye
Rotherwas Junction
ROF Rotherwas
Welsh Marches line NA&HR)
Dinedor tunnel
Holme Lacy
Ballingham tunnel
Ballingham
Ballingham Bridge
across the River Wye
Fawley Tunnel
Fawley
Backney Halt
Ross-on-Wye
Weston under Penyard Halt
Mitcheldean Road
Lea Line tunnel
Longhope
Blaisdon Halt
Grange Court
Grange Court Junction
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Ross and Monmouth
Railway
Legend
mi-ch
0-00
Ross-on-Wye
3-12
Walford Halt
4-10
Kerne Bridge
Lydbrook tunnel
5-40
Lydbrook Junction
7-50
Symonds Yat
10-59
Hadnock Halt
12-31
Monmouth Mayhill
13-10
Monmouth Troy

Ross-on-Wye railway station is a former junction railway station on the Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway constructed just to the north of the Herefordshire town of Ross-on-Wye. It was the terminus of the Ross and Monmouth Railway which joined the Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway just south of the station.

History

The station was opened on 1 June 1855 by the Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway four years after line had received parliamentary consent to be constructed. A line from Ross-on-Wye to Tewkesbury was authorised by parliament in 1856 but was never built.

On 29 July 1862 the line was amalgamated with the Great Western Railway and in 1869 the line was converted from broad gauge to standard gauge in a five-day period. In 1873 the Ross and Monmouth Railway to Monmouth via Lydbrook was opened and it terminated at the station. The station then passed on to the Western Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

The lines to Ross closed in stages. On the Ross and Monmouth Railway passenger services were withdrawn and the section from Lydbrook Junction to Monmouth Troy was closed on 5 January 1959. The remaining section remained open until 1 November 1965 for freight traffic only. The Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway closed to passengers on 2 November 1964 and the line south to the junction at Grange Court closed on 1 November 1965. The line going north to Rotherwas Junction and Hereford Station closed when passenger service were withdrawn in 1964.[1]

The brick built station building has been demolished and the site redeveloped into an industrial estate.[2] The brick goods and engine sheds still stand.

Ross on Wye station yard.
A Great Western Railway shed now a garden centre.

The Severn Valley Railway station at Kidderminster Town is based on the design for Ross-on-Wye even down to the decorative cast roof crestings; the patterns for which were derived from measurement of segments of the original ones.[3]

Stationmasters

  • Mr. Grundy ca. 1856
  • James Rycroft 1865[4] - 1885[5]
  • William Francis Marvin 1889 - 1899[6] (afterwards station master at Gloucester)
  • Ernest C. Peglar 1900[7] - 1911 (formerly station master at Abergavenny)
  • W.P. Roberts 1911 - 1915[8] (afterwards station master at Stroud)
  • A.J. Bannister D.S.O. 1915 - 1921[9] (afterwards station master at Paignton)
  • W.J. Fey 1921 - 1925[10] (formerly station master at Lydney and Grange Court)
  • C.J. Rees 1925[11] - 1930 (formerly station master at Whimsy)
  • R.W. Kilvington 1931[12]
  • Allan A. Crabbe 1931 - 1932[13] (afterwards station master at Cheltenham)


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Walford Halt   Ross and Monmouth Railway
British Railways
  Terminus
Weston under Penyard Halt   Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway
British Railways
  Backney Halt

References

  1. ^ "Herefordshire Through Time - Welcome". 2 March 2015.
  2. ^ "Ross-on-Wye - The Railway in Ross - The Station". ross-on-wye.com. 15 February 2011. Archived from the original on 12 June 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Ross-on-Wye Civic Society - Ross Railway Station lives on". Ross-on-Wye Civic Society. 2005. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  4. ^ "1835-1910 Clerks Vol.5". Great Western Railway: 43. 1835. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Ross. The retirement of the Stationmaster". Gloucester Citizen. England. 17 October 1885. Retrieved 19 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Ross. The Testimonial to Mr. W.F. Marvin". Gloucester Citizen. England. 28 December 1899. Retrieved 19 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Presentation to the Stationmaster". Hereford Journal. England. 31 March 1900. Retrieved 15 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Gloucester G.W.R. Station-master". Gloucester Citizen. England. 7 January 1926. Retrieved 15 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "West of England News". Western Morning News. England. 1 April 1921. Retrieved 15 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "Ross. Stationmaster's Retirement". Gloucester Journal. England. 29 August 1925. Retrieved 15 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "Mr. C.J. Rees". Gloucestershire Echo. England. 22 August 1925. Retrieved 15 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ^ "G.W.R. Tributes in Gloucester. Mr. Kilvington's New Post". Gloucester Journal. England. 7 February 1931. Retrieved 15 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ "Death of a Cheltenham Stationmaster". Gloucestershire Echo. England. 11 July 1933. Retrieved 15 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Further reading

  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2008). Branch Lines around Ross-on-Wye. Middleton Press. figs. 26-43. ISBN 9781906008307. OCLC 370350430.

External links

  • Station on 1952 OS Map
  • Photographs of the station site today
  • Local history site about the railway in Ross
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Closed railway stations in Herefordshire
Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway
Hereford, Ross and
Gloucester Railway
Leominster and Kington Railway
Kington and Eardisley Railway
Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway
Golden Valley Railway
Newport, Abergavenny
and Hereford Railway
West Midland Railway
Ross and Monmouth Railway
Worcester, Bromyard
and Leominster Railway
Ledbury and Gloucester Railway
Other