GWR Route: Moreton-in-Marsh to Shipston-on-Stour

Stretton on Fosse Station

Situated some 4 miles 12 chains from Moreton-in-Marsh, Stretton-on-Fosse was a small, single-platform station with a small, prefabricated building which, according to Messrs. Jenkins and Carpenter, was 'similar to others erected at various places throughout the GWR system during the 1880s'. The passenger platform was about 170 feet long with a small cottage adjacent for the railway staff and families. Platform equipment included a single bench seat, two station nameboards (later reduced to one) and a selection of porter's barrows. Stretton-on- Fosse as a station did not first appear in the timetables when the line re-opened in July 1889 but passenger trains did call by request at the adjacent Golden Cross Inn until the station was completed in November 1892.

They continue, 'the station was served by a single, dead-end siding which could accommodate approximately six short-wheel base wagons and which was accessed by a two-lever ground frame locked by a key attached to the wooden train staff. Because the siding trailed in the down direction, it was normally accessed by trains bound for Shipston-on-Stour. However, southbound trains were permitted to stop short of the siding in order that loaded wagons could be detached. The locomotive and passenger vehicle(s) would then draw forward into the platform and, after the guard had operated the points, the wagons were gravitated into the goods yard'. The station closed to passenger services on 8th July 1929 and to goods traffic in May 1941.

	1903	1913	1923	1933
Passenger tickets issued	2589	2631	1814	-
Season tickets issued	*	*	-	-
Parcels forwarded	1224	2799	1700	276
General goods forwarded (tons)	167	522	90	27
Coal and coke received (tons)	8	12	-	-
Other minerals received (tons)	109	630	2617	63
General goods received	75	202	225	25
Trucks of livestock handled	-	-	-	-
* not available				v

Passenger, parcels, goods and livestock figures courtesy of Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith in their book Oxford to Moreton-in-Marsh: Including the Shipston-on-Stour Branch published by Middleton Press.

Ref: gwrsf540 Anon Looking towards Morton in the Marsh with the single siding on the left complete with loading gauge

Ref: gwrsf541 DS Barrie Looking north towards Shipston-on-Stour with the loading gauge minus its profile ironwork

Ref: gwrsf541a DS Barrie Close up showing the station building looking tired towards the end of its life as a passenger facility

Ref: gwrsf542 Anon Looking towards Shipston-on-Stour with a covered five-plank wagon standing in the siding awaiting collection

Ref: gwrsf542a Anon Close up of the covered wagon standing in the siding with two platelayers huts standing behind the buffers

Ref: gwrsf556 Lens of Sutton The two station name boards later reduced to one name board and at the end of the siding the original PW hut

Ref: gwrsf553 D Burge View of the Golden Cross Hotel, the gateway to the goods yard and the weighbridge office

Ref: gwrsf554 Stretton Local History Group The weighbridge and office at the entrance of the goods yard with the Golden Cross Hotel adjacent to the station

Ref: gwrsf555 Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Looking towards Shipston-on-Stour in Edwardian days when Charles Cotton was station master

Ref: gwrsf971 Lens of Sutton Looking north towards Shipston with the ground frame and point levers seen at the end of the platform

Ref: gwrsf556a Lens of Sutton Close up showing the platform cluttered with a range of items reflecting the needs of a single platform station

Ref: gwrsf555a Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Close up showing the point rodding running in front of the station before passing beneath the platform wall

Ref: gwrsf3027 JH Russell The station building some eighteen years after it closed to passenger traffic and six years to goods traffic

Ref: gwrsf3027a JH Russell Close up of the closed station building which shows on the left the booking office and on the right the waiting room

Ref: gwrsf3028 JH Russell Another 1947 view of the closed station and siding still in place two years after goods traffic had ceased

Ref: gwrsf3026 D Lawrence The station, now closed to both passenger and goods services, is seen on 2nd July 1953

Ref: gwrsf965 PJ Garland A view of Stretton-on-Fosse Level Crossing's overlapping gates and the adjacent station masters house

Ref: gwrsf3025 PJ Garland Ex-MSWJR 2-4-0 No 1335, on a SLS special, stands at Stretton on Fosse station on 31st August 1952

Ref: gwrsf544 Stretton Local History Group An aerial view of the station after the passenger services had ceased and the goods siding lifted

Ref: gwrsf964 JH Russell A view of the 'Pump' trolley and its companion trolley which was stored in siding at Stretton-on-Fosse in 1947

Ref: gwrsf3021 GWR Table showing the number of passengers, parcels, and different types of goods using the station 1903-33

Ref: gwrsf3908 GWR The number and percentage of Great Western Railway staff serving with the armed forces in 1916

Ref: gwrsf945 Ordance Survey Ordnance survey map showing the orientation of Stretton-on-Fosse station and goods yard to the Golden Cross Inn

Ref: gwrsf3022 Ordance Survey A map showing the location of Stretton on Fosse on the Moreton in Marsh to Shipston on Stour line

Ref: gwrsf3030 Ordance Survey An Ordnance Survey map of Stretton on Fosse station surveyed in 1885 published in 1886

Ref: gwrsf3023 Ordance Survey An Ordnance Survey map of Stretton on Fosse station updated in 1900 published in 1903

Ref: gwrsf3029 Ordance Survey An Ordnance Survey map of Stretton on Fosse station updated in 1921 published in 1924