Holt Junction railway station

Holt Junction
Holt Junction
	Holt Junction station in 1905
General information
Location	Holt, Wiltshire; England
Coordinates	51°21′13″N 2°11′10″W / 51.3536°N 2.1862°W
Grid reference	ST871616
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Great Western Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
1857	Junction established.
1861	Station opened.
1874	Station rebuilt and connected to the village.
1877	Goods shed opened.
1953	Goods shed demolished.
1963	Goods yard closed.
1966	Station closed. Devizes line closed.
1967	Signal box closed, main line singled.
1981	Remainder of Devizes line lifted.

Devizes Branch

Legend

Wessex Main Line

to Trowbridge

to Melksham

Bromham and Rowde Halt

Devizes

Pans Lane Halt

Reading to Taunton Line

to Westbury

Patney and Chirton

Reading to Taunton Line

to Pewsey

Holt Junction was a railway station which served the village of Holt, Wiltshire, England between 1861 and 1966. It stood on the Wessex Main Line at its junction with the western end of the Devizes branch.

History

In 1848, the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway Company opened their line southward from Thingley Junction near Chippenham, at first only as far as Westbury. The line passed Holt village to the southeast but there were no local stations. In 1850, the line was sold to the Great Western Railway (GWR) who completed the Devizes branch line in 1857; this met the Chippenham-Westbury line to the east of the village. Although most sources give a slightly later date of 1861, recent research has found that a single interchange island platform was reported at the junction from 1857: this allowed passengers to transfer between main and branch line trains.^[1]^: 102

In 1862, the GWR extended its Reading-Hungerford line westward via Pewsey to Devizes, creating a through route from the South West to London Paddington.^[2] By 1866, seven passenger trains each weekday called at Holt; six in the London direction.^[3]

The station was reconfigured and connected to the village by a footpath in 1874; in 1877 a road connection was made and a goods shed was built.^[4]^[1]^: 102 In 1895, the station gained a footbridge and a platform building.^[1]^: 104

In 1897, the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company (later Nestlé) converted Staverton Mill, about one mile from the station, for condensed milk production. In 1909, a large covered loading bay for milk was built to the west of the station; this remained in use until the factory gained a direct rail connection in 1934.^[5]

From 1905 the GWR used rail motors (self-propelled carriages) to provide local services on the Chippenham-Westbury line and the Devizes branch.^[2]

Decline and closure

Usage of the Devizes line declined from 1900 after the opening of the shorter Stert-Westbury link, which effectively bypassed the longer single line through Devizes to Holt.

The Beeching Axe was the death knell for the junction. The Devizes Branch was recommended for closure, as were the stations between Chippenham and Trowbridge. The goods yard closed in October 1963; the goods shed having been largely demolished in 1953. The station and branch line closed in April 1966. The 48-lever signal box followed in February 1967, and the Thingley to Bradford Junction route was singled.^[5]^[1]^: 106

While most of the Devizes branch was lifted shortly after closure, a spur from Holt station was retained as a long siding until 1981, when it too was lifted. This was used for the storage of empty wagons, and as a stabling point for the Royal Train. ^[1]^: 108

The site today

The station master's house remains, but all remaining buildings on the old station site were demolished in 1970.^[6] The site was used as a builders merchants' depot before becoming a light industrial estate. Some of the site is also used as a caravan storage facility.

The site retains road access to the remaining railway line, for engineering purposes. Freight services, particularly heavy aggregate trains from limestone quarries in the Mendips, continue to use the line through the closed station.

Between 1966 and 1985, passenger usage of the line was limited to the occasional diversion or summer excursion (such as the Weymouth Wizard). The reopening of Melksham station in 1985 saw the resumption of regular passenger services between Swindon and Westbury on the Thingley-Bradford Junction route. The line is also one of the routes used by the Night Riviera sleeper service from London to Penzance.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2003). Branch Lines of West Wiltshire : Malmesbury, Calne and Devizes. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 9781904474128.
^ ^a ^b Crittall, Elizabeth, ed. (1959). "Victoria County History: Wiltshire: Vol 4 - Railways". British History Online. University of London. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
^ Henry Blacklock & Co., Bradshaw Works (July 1866). BRADSHAW S GENERAL RAILWAY AND STEAM NAVIGATION GUIDE, FOR GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. Henry Blacklock & Co. p. 15. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
^ Rod Priddle; David Hyde (1996). GWR to Devizes. Millstream Books. pp. 11–37. ISBN 978-0-948975-43-1.
^ ^a ^b Oakley, Mike (2004). Wiltshire Railway Stations. Wimborne: The Dovecote Press. pp. 68–70. ISBN 1-904349-33-1.
^ "Holt Junction". Bradford on Avon Museum. Retrieved 2 March 2023.

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Broughton Gifford Halt Line open, station closed		Great Western Railway Wessex Main Line		Staverton Halt Line open, station closed
Semington Halt Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Devizes Branch Line		Staverton Halt Line open, station closed