Maiden Newton railway station


Maiden Newton railway station is a railway station serving the village of Maiden Newton in Dorset, England. The station is located on the Heart of Wessex Line, from the zero point at London Paddington, measured via Swindon and Westbury.

History

Opened on 20 January 1857 by the Great Western Railway with the section of their route from to. This completed the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth line from, the first part of which had opened in 1848.
The station consisted of two platforms with a flint station building and goods shed at the south end. A signal box was added later - it was closed in the summer of 1988, when the "no signalman token system" was introduced between Maiden Newton and Yeovil. From 1857 to 1975 the station was the junction for the Bridport Railway and an extra bay platform was added at the north end of the station for these trains. This can still be seen at the west end of the station and this end of the trackbed is a footpath and cycleway.
The station is Grade II listed. The main station building was built for the opening of the station and although in the style of Isambard Kingdom Brunel is most likely to designs by his assistant Robert Pearson Brereton. It is constructed of flint with Hamstone dressings and an artificial slate roof. The other buildings within the listing include a smaller shelter with Welsh slate roof, and the footbridge of reinforced concrete installed in the 1950s by the Western Region of British Railways.
The station building survives but is no longer used by the railway.

Stationmasters

  • Frederick Harvey Aldrich 1857
  • William Matthew Mitcham 1860 - 1863
  • John George Girling 1863 - 1866
  • William Edward Bock 1866 - 1869
  • Henry Yeo ca. 1871 - 1876
  • William Lambourne Thompson Gray 1876 - 1881
  • Arthur Percy Dagg 1881 - 1882
  • Alfred Reeves 1882 - ca. 1888
  • Frederick William Cooper 1897
  • Edward Charles Beard 1897 - 1899
  • Frank George Dunford 1901 - ca. 1906
  • Walter George Stickland ca. 1914
  • Sidney Evans 1919 - 1925
  • J. Ralph from 1926
  • Walter Edward Ernest Pidding from 1933
  • Mr. Powell ca. 1936 ca. 1937
  • L.E. Hole 1941 - 1944
  • J.H. MacMahon 1944 - 1957

Description

The station retains two platforms as it is a passing place on the single line between and Yeovil Pen Mill. The entrance is on the northbound platform, the side closest to the village. Access to the southbound platform is normally by the footbridge but there is a level crossing at the south end of the station for passengers who are unable to use the bridge.

Services

Great Western Railway operate services from,, and to. South Western Railway used to run additional services between and Yeovil Junction on Summer Saturdays.

Signalling

The electric key token instrument for the block section to Yeovil are now operated by the train crew under the supervision of the signal operator based at Yeovil Pen Mill. The block section to Dorchester West is operated under the "tokenless single line" principle with track circuiting.