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London North Western
Railway:
Midland
Railway:
Stratford
Midland Junction Railway
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Fenny Compton Station
| Fenny Compton
Station [SMJ] (51) |
Fenny Compton Station [GWR] (38) |
The first railway company to service the area was the Great
Western Railway (GWR) in the guise of the Oxford, Worcester &
Wolverhampton Railway (OWWR) which opened its station on 1st October 1852.
The second railway company was the East and West Junction Railway (E&WJR)
which was to build a thirty-three mile line from the Northampton and Banbury
Junction Railway at Green's Norton Junction, a short distance west of
Towcester, and then to continue from there, crossing the Great Western Railway
just south of Fenny Compton (where it too was to build a station) in order to
join another GWR line at Stratford upon Avon. This route would, it was planned,
give the E&WJR access both to Birmingham via Leamington and to the
south-west via Honeybourne; the authorised line included running powers over
the Northampton and Banbury Junction Railway between Towcester and Blisworth.
Whilst the E&WJR had initially intended goods traffic from the Northampton
area to be handed over to the GWR at Stratford upon Avon the GWR refused to
cooperate insisting that goods traffic be exchanged at Fenny Compton. This
meant that for many years Fenny Compton had an importance that did not reflect
its rural location and it wasn't until the extension to Broom was built in the
guise of the Evesham, Redditch and Stratford-upon-Avon Junction Railway
that this importance declined. The opening of this extension allowed the
E&WJR to pass its traffic on to the Midland Railway at Broom Junction
thereby cutting out the GWR. The Midland Railway did initially use the line
routing its Bristol and Gloucester to London traffic over the SMJ (its Banana
trains were of particular note) until 1912 when it re-routed it's traffic via
Wigston Junction an action saving them but costing the SMJ some £1,100
per annum.
The East & West Junction Railway was for much of its
life in a state of acute financial embarrassment, and with little money to
spare, its relations with the inspecting officers of the Board of Trade were
none too happy. It was a tradition which went back to the days prior to the
line even being open! The first section of the E&WJR to be submitted for
inspection was between Fenny Compton (adjacent to the GWR's Oxford to
Birmingham main line) and Kineton. Colonel Hutchinson was deputed to inspect
the line, and he balked at the deficient ballasting, missing fish bolts, poor
fencing, incomplete interlocking, inadequate station facilities and no station
nameboards or clocks. On his second visit, he passed the line, subject to an
undertaking from the company concerning Fenny Compton, where the E&WJR
hoped to use GWR facilities until a joint station was built. The section of the
line between Fenny Compton and Kineton opened on 1st June 1871.
The E&WJR station Fenny Compton West was built
alongside and to the west of the GWR's Fenny Compton station. Initially
the station had just a single short platform on the up side (GWR station side)
with the down platform not being added until the 1873 opening of the line to
Stratford upon Avon. Arthur Jordan writes in his book on the line, 'In 1874
the Great Western signalman observed a light in the East & West booking
office at 11.00pm but not until 2.00am did he investigate what had become a
'glaring light' and, as the Stratford Herald reported subsequently, 'The
building was gutted by fire which destroyed the train stall apparatus. The
station was insured'. Arthur also notes, 'in nearby racing stables make
extensive use of both the SMJ and GWR stations for horse traffic to and from
race meetings all over the country, and SMJ passenger trains were frequently
required to attach or detach horse boxes here. Until 1879, when the Broom
extension opened, all E&WJR goods traffic from East of Fenny Compton and
routed via Hatton Junction had to be handed to the GWR at this
station'.
There were two facing platforms, one being served by the
down passing loop with the main station building located on it and the other,
being served by the up passing loop which was nearest to the GWR station. This
placed the E&WJR's up platform directly next to the GWR's down platform,
and because the GWR's goods yard was in between the two (until at a later date
the GWR platform was moved to the other side of the level crossing), the
E&WJR up platform tapered significantly. In 1873 Colonel Yollaud on behalf
of the Board of Trade inspected the line extensions from Kineton to Stratford
upon Avon, and from Fenny Compton to Towcester. Colonel Yollaud soon noticed
that the up platform at Fenny Compton narrowed to no more than 2 foot 11 inches
at one place, instead of the requisite 6 foot. The Colonel issued orders that,
unless the GWR would agree to move their fence, the platform was to be
shortened. As it was only 100 yards long in the first place, this was not very
convenient, and as late as 1952 when the station was closed, the platform was
still less than the conventional width.
The goods yard initially consisted of one siding used
primarily by coal merchants, Whilst there is no indication of a public
weighbridge and office there may well have been in order to support the
merchants based at the station. Certainly by the 1930s there is evidence that a
weighbridge and office was in existence as was a second siding. The Railway
Clearing House's 1929 Handbook of Railway Stations states Fenny Compton
provided the general public and businesses with the following services. These
are recorded as: Goods traffic; Passenger and Parcels traffic; Live Stock and
Horse Boxes and Prize Cattle Vans (GPLH). There were no cranage facilities
provided in the goods yard so merchants would either have to man handle the
loading/unloading of goods themselves or, if necessary, bring in a mobile
crane. The 1894 edition of The Railway Clearing House's Handbook of Railway
Stations did not provide information to the same detail e.g. the number of
categories listed, and only recorded (GPL), however its reasonable to assume
that the same facilities recorded in 1929 were offered from the outset.
On 1st June 1871 the first section of the line, from Fenny
Compton to Kineton, a distance of six miles, was opened and a passenger service
commenced. The line was built as a single line with passing loops at certain
stations along the route. The lack of motive power meant the E&WJR hired
their contractor's engine for the purpose and later bought it, at which stage
the locomotive became E&WJR No 1. There was a siding connection opened
between the two stations and a loading bank for coal in the E&WJR goods
yard. The GWR had only a single siding for goods traffic in between their down
platform and the E&WJR's up platform. The GWR later rebuilt their goods
siding by added another siding and Goods Shed in 1902 and in order to
facilitate this they moved the down platform northwards towards Birmingham and
located it immediately on the other side of the level crossing. The
E&WJR signal box was sited on the down platform
adjacent to the main buildings and remained in place until 1931, when as part
of the LMS' and GWR's economy measures, a joint LMS/GWR cabin was installed
which signalled both routes with a lever frame for each railway located on the
relevant side of the signal box. This was in turn replaced by a British
Railways (Western Region) signal box in March 1960. When passenger services
over the former E&WJR ceased in 1952 the old up platform was swept away,
and a series of running connections laid in between the SMJ and WR lines. These
were intended to facilitate through goods traffic, but a change of plans
resulted in the line being closed as a through route in 1965. The only section
which carries traffic beyond this date is from Fenny Compton to an army camp at
Burton Dassett.
Messrs Preston Hendry & Powell Hendry noted in their
section of their book on the station 'The Board of Trade's dislike of facing
points is well known, and is illustrated by this comment from the inspecting
officer's report: 'I have also recommended that the siding at Blakesley
Station off the Down line should cross that line and join the Up instead of the
Down line, and thus avoid an unnecessary pair of facing points'. At Fenny
Compton, this fetish was honoured in the case of the Down yard siding, which
was laid in to the Up line, but the E&WJR/GWR exchange siding was reached
off a facing connection at the end of the Up platform, instead of a trailing
point off the Down line! This made nonsense of the whole exercise, but was
passed without comment! (see scale plan ‘A’). The SMJ had
strengthened the bridge carrying the railway over the GWR main line in 1909.
Another significant change came in 1960 when British Railways Western Region
decided to put in a direct connecting line for the ironstone trains over the
former S&MJR. This enabled them to avoid Leamington and Bearley and the
climb up Hatton Bank on their journey to Wales via Gloucester. To control the
junction a new signal box was opened on 7th March 1960.'
Much of the information provided on this and other linked
pages has been derived from books written by: Arthur Jordan The Stratford
upon Avon and Midland Junction Railway published by OPC; JM Dunn's The
Stratford upon Avon & Midland Junction Railway published by The Oakwood
Press; Messrs Preston Hendry & Powell Hendry in An Historical Survey of
Selected LMS Stations Volume One published by OPC; RC Riley and Bill
Simpson in their book A History of the Stratford-Upon-Avon and Midland
Junction Railway published by Lamplight Publications; David Blasgrove in
his book 'Warwickshire's Lost Railways' published by Stenlake Publishing which
has a brief illustrated overview of some of the stations; and finally Geoffrey
Kingscott's Lost Railways of Warwickshire published by Countryside Books
which has a section dedicated to the SMJR with 'Now and Then' photographs. We
would like to express our thanks to the members of the SMJ Society (www.smj.me)
for use of their information and images, in particular the late John Jennings
whose contribution can be seen on many of our SMJ pages.
Trains seen at or near Fenny Compton Station
Schematic Drawings and Ordnance Survey Map
Railway Accident to an employee of the East & West
Junction Railway, James Jennings.
Died on 1st July 1899 Hit by a train in the vicinity of
Fenny Compton Station.
by John Jennings
Based on material supplied by Patricia Jennings including
two contemporary newspaper reports, in addition I visited the site which is
still a working railway during March 2009 and reminded myself of the
juxtaposition of the E & W with the GWR. Good views of the line are still
visible from bridges and public footpaths in the area. I also reviewed the
track layout and gradient profiles. Although the E & W route was abandoned
in 1965 the track bed of the line still exists to the south of Fenny Compton
station site and is used as a road by Network Rail maintenance road vehicles
for about half a mile to the point where it swings out to gain height to cross
the GWR. It retains its profile for much of the way to where the bridge
abutments that carried the E & W over the GWR still exist. This section is
used by local farmers who have no doubt bought the track bed from BR in recent
times. The formation can be clearly traced on Google Earth images.
P Jennings is anxious to establish the identity of the
dwelling that James lived in whilst he was employed as a platelayer at Fenny
Compton during the late 1800's. There are no known records and Patricia has
queried whether the substantial brick and slate roofed house that appears in a
number of contemporary photos of Fenny Compton station might be the residence
used by James. I have used my general railway knowledge and my familiarity with
the East & West Junction route to conclude that the house in question is
highly unlikely to have ever been used by a platelayer's family. It is the
Station Master's house and was a GWR building, not an E & W structure. It
is shown on most of the maps of the area over the period in question as
"Station Master's House" and is clearly on the GWR part of the site. There are
some very useful clues in the two newspaper reports and after commenting on the
nature of a platelayer's job I will return to them.
At the time in question the railway companies employed
platelayer gangs to be responsible for the maintenance of a specific "section"
of their route mileage. A very useful reference to the way in which the later
SMJ and LMS divided this railway regarding the platelayers' sections is
contained in Mr Pettifer's essay "Tempus Fugit". There is no reason to suppose
that the working arrangements were much different in the earlier E & W
days. James Jennings as foreman would have been in charge of a small gang that
would have had responsibility for a section of the line on a day to day basis.
It was customary for the Company to erect small huts (often called hovels) at
regular intervals along the track to store tools and provide shelter for the
gang. On the SMJ line these were at one mile intervals and some were very
rudimentary. The gang would have one larger hut or complex of huts at a
convenient point in their section. This would always be near a station at which
there was a signal box. This served as a central store for materials which
could be offloaded from adjacent tracks. At best these huts would be
constructed substantially from second hand sleepers and crossing timbers and
could be regarded as "semi permanent" buildings. It was not unknown across the
Railway system at the time for lower graded staff to (sometimes officially)
live in such buildings; they always had a stove and a plentiful supply of coal
from passing locomotives. Produce could be grown by cultivating the embankments
as allotments. The reference "Jennings lived in a frame house" in the Banbury
Guardian report is a clue to the wooden construction. It was also very
convenient for an impoverished company such as the E & W to allow a
platelayer to effectively be "on call" 24 hours a day. In the winter months the
signalman would need to call out a "fogman" very often at short notice and the
first choice for such a task was a local platelayer. Much time and therefore
hold-ups could be saved if all the signalman had to do was walk up the yard to
call out his man! Maps of the site from various dates show a hut with a
permanent way trolley platform and materials store area on the E & W line
as it curves away towards Kineton on the western side of the line. This
confirms Mr Pettifer's comment that Fenny Compton was a "section break" where
two gangs were based with responsibilities in each direction. After further
discussions with P Jennings about James and his family it now seems unlikely
that he did in fact live in the platelayer's compound as he had a wife and
children with him. The reference to the "frame house" is therefore directed at
some other dwelling. I can find no records of the E & W owning cottages for
the use of staff at Fenny Compton. There are no surviving houses that seem to
fit the description or indeed the location that we believe James's house was
situated. He had been domiciled in the area with his family for some time and
census returns give his address as "near Railway Station" The most likely
location for any house was in the area now occupied by an industrial estate
immediately to the south and west of the station site.
I would now comment on the actual circumstances of his
death.
The layout of tracks at Fenny Compton during the whole of
its history is well documented. The GWR route was its important main line
between Birmingham and London, the E & W crossed it at right angles on a
bridge about a mile south of the stations immediately turning to run parallel,
losing height until the two companies tracks ran on the level at a point about
a quarter mile to the south of the bridge that carries the Coventry - Banbury
road over the three tracks. The E & W swung off to the west immediately
after its station with the GWR lines continuing on a roughly north - south
axis. All of the histories of the E & W line confirm that the relationship
between the two companies was not a good one, they had to tolerate each other
and some co-operation was needed at Fenny Compton due to the proximity of the
joint level crossing. Until as late as 1959 there was no commercially viable
interchange facility for traffic and in James Jennings's lifetime the only
physical track connection between the two companies was a short kick back
siding in the yard.
On the night of the 1st July 1899 James had been to the Inn
to obtain a jug of porter for his wife. The location of the inn was near the
Oxford canal and it was known locally as the "Tunnel Beerhouse". (The reference
to a tunnel is because until the mid 1800's the Oxford canal ran through a
tunnel at this location. The tunnel was removed placing the canal in the
cutting that survives to this day). His route home involved walking to the
railway bridge that took the Coventry - Banbury road over the three tracks and
down on to the E & W track. In those days there would no doubt have been a
well worn path down the side of the bridge. It was around 10.00pm and although
at that time of year it should have still been in partial daylight it was
raining that night, so no doubt almost dark. James Jennings would have had a
fob watch issued by the E & W as a senior ganger needed to keep track of
the time when working out on the line. The E & W timetable would have been
engrained in his head and at that time he would have concluded that the last
train of the day from Blisworth to Stratford had passed that spot as it was due
off Fenny Compton at 9.59pm.
The Banbury Guardian report states that he was walking in
the "six - foot way of the East & West". The term "six foot way" is a pure
piece of railway jargon and it must have been given to the reporter of the
newspaper by a railway man. It is the term by which the strip of land between
the tracks on multiple track lines is known. The E & W was a single track
railway except at stations but at this point its single track ran parallel to
and was separated from the two GWR tracks as though they were in effect a
triple track formation on the same level. James was walking north towards Fenny
Compton station probably in the six foot separating the E & W line from the
GWR down line, he became aware that a down GWR train was approaching either
because he heard it in the distance or saw the GWR signals go green, or both.
He thought that there was no danger in moving across to walk in the four foot
way of the E & W line to avoid the GWR train so he stepped across without
bothering to look behind him. He did not know that the Blisworth passenger was
running late and was coasting down the grade towards Fenny Compton slowing for
its station stop. Under these conditions the E & W train would be making
the minimal amount of noise with steam shut off. Its driver was possibly pre
occupied with adjusting his braking on the wet rails and in near darkness did
not see anyone on the track ahead. Any sound that the E & W train did make
was almost certainly obliterated by the noise of the GWR train running through
at speed. James was killed by being run down by the E & W train. The
Coroner's report appears to be a thorough and accurate reflection of the event.
It is interesting to note that many of the jury were E & W or GWR employees
who worked in the locality.
Note. As far as I am aware James Jennings was not a distant
relation to me. I was approached by his descendant Patricia Jennings after she
became aware of me from internet enquiries in case we were related.
| Fenny Compton
Station [SMJ] (51) |
Fenny Compton Station [GWR] (38) |
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