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EYNSHAM |
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The line approached Eynsham on a gentle curve, and just before passing under the bridge carrying the Eynsham to Oxford road, passed the site of the Eynsham Sugar Beet Factory (SP440090). This was opened in 1927, and for a short while generated considerable a volume of freight traffic. It was set up with the intention of developing a method of drying sugar beet as a means of preservation, unfortunately this proved to be impractical, and the factory, which had benefited from The Sugar Industry (Subsidy) Act of 1925, soon closed. Subsequently the site was used by the Colonial Development Corporation, the sidings finally being lifted in the late 1950s. The site is now occupied by Oxford Magnet Technology, a company specializing in body scanners. From the site of the nearby road overbridge the trackbed is now used as part of the Eynsham by-pass, all the way to the site of the level crossing next to the station (SP430088). |
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An excellent view of Eynsham station
basking in the sun in July
1956. The station building, signal box and goods shed occupy the up
platform, while the austere shelter on the extreme left was the only
building on the down platform. In the distance the goods loop and
sidings can be seen, along with the down starter and up home signals.
In the gap between the signal box and station building, a line of
wagons can be seen on the back siding. |
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Eynsham station was the main
intermediate station on the Witney Railway, situated 3 miles 27
chains from Yarnton on the southern edge of the village. The
station master's house was situated on the up side near the level
crossing. This 1905 view (above left) looking up Station Road towards
the village centre shows the house on the left. From a slightly different angle, the
house is pictured on 4 April 1980 (above right), with the remains of the up platform in
the foreground. Originally Eynsham station had just a single platform, the
passing loop and second platform were added in 1944. |
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This view from the early 1960s shows
the level crossing at Eynsham, looking towards Oxford. The 1944
prefabricated down platform can be seen on the right of the picture. This
was acquired by the Great Western Society and moved to Didcot in the
1980s. |
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A fascinating pair of pictures
showing trains crossing at Eynsham in June 1962. The top picture shows
57xx 0-6-0PT 3653 waiting in the down platform with the 18:49 Oxford to
Fairford service, while 74xx 0-6-0PT 7412 approaches with the 18:00
Fairford to Oxford train. The lower picture taken from a little closer
to 3653, clearly shows the construction of the wartime down platform.
Note how little used the goods yard is by this date, as the track into
the yard in the foreground is very rusty. Note also the point rodding
between the two running lines. |
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Eynsham station building was one of the
original Witney Railway Company's Malachi Bartlett timber buildings. It is
pictured here (above & left) on 4 April 1980 and although ten years after complete
closure of the line, the green and cream paintwork is still clearly
visible. The original building is the centre section around the white
door, extensions on either end clearly indicated by different styles of
weatherboarding. This view (left) is looking along the platform towards the goods
shed, the line to Witney disappearing between the small tree and the
Tilley lamp post. The upper view shows the gents toilet extension at the
west end. Also visible to the right is the cycle store. |
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At the rear of the yard was the
weighbridge hut, seen here in April 1980, along with one of the ubiquitous
corrugated iron stores that were so prevalent on GWR station sites. The
longest of the three sidings in the goods yard (normally used for coal)
ended just to the left of this picture. |
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Eynsham station made the news in December 1927, when two fugitives on the run from the police after murdering an Essex policeman, staged a hold up at the station. Frederick Browne and William Kennedy had somehow managed to drive their car along the track from the South Leigh direction late at night, and then on entering Eynsham station, encountered a porter, Frederick Castle, who not unnaturally wanted to know what they were doing in the closed station so late at night. Browne & Kennedy then tied him up, and after an unsuccessful attempt to steal from the station safe, left Castle in the ground frame cabin at the end of the yard. |
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Two views of Eynsham goods shed. The
upper view shows the shed
from the western end, with the cattle dock in the foreground.
The picture was taken from the 'London Division Branch Line Tour' on 24
May 1969. By this date the line was worked as a long siding, and all superfluous
track had been lifted, hence the truncated section of
track visible here, which is the remains of the points leading to
the goods yard. The lower view shows the shed from the road approach on 4 April 1980,
at a time when it was being used by the Oxford Playhouse as a theatre
workshop. The makeshift extension behind the Austin Maxi still had a
section of track in situ at the time. |
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Several sections of track survived
on the Fairford Branch after track lifting, usually because of the
difficulty of removal. On 4 April 1980, nearly ten years after this
section of line closed, a section of rail was still clearly visible
next to the eastern door of the former goods shed. At this time the
building was used by the Oxford Playhouse, and a crude extension
built largely of corrugated plastic had been added to this end of
the building (see above). A point worth noting is that this section
of rail is clearly of some vintage, as it is inside keyed bullhead
rail, i.e. the cast chairs have the wooden keys securing the rail on
the inside edge of the rail, rather than the outside which has been
standard practice for a long time. Also the rail looks to be of
smaller section than the standard 95lb bullhead type. |
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The low winter afternoon
sunlight highlights the remains of Eynsham goods shed on 8 February
1986. Somehow amid the demolition the virtually intact sliding door
complete with its guide wheels remains in an upright position. The
pile of snow covered rubble in the foreground hides one of the
sections of rail that survived when the remainder of the track was
lifted in 1971. |
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The beginning of the end for Eynsham
station. On 23 February 1985, work is underway on a new road to serve an industrial
estate on the station site. The station building is left
marooned and will soon succumb to the development. The roundabout marks
the site of the former level crossing. The former Down platform (a wartime
addition) had been removed to the great Western Society's headquarters
at Didcot. |
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The site of Eynsham station on 8
December 1992 looking east with the large Oxford Instruments building
dominating the background. The BMW is parked approximately on the site
of the points at the west end of the loops (SP427088), near the site of
the ground frame in which Browne & Kennedy incarcerated porter
Frederick Castle. A public footpath follows the course of the line here
and another crosses ½ mile to the west (SP419087). |
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