Bishop's Waltham - Railway

Railway

Bishop's Waltham's commercial status warranted the construction of the Bishops Waltham branch Line railway to the town from Botley in 1862. The railway became part of the London and South Western Railway in the 1870s, who operated distinctive steam railcars on the line for passenger services, although the majority of traffic was goods- with bricks coming from the town and coal for the gasworks going to. The LSWR laid on special services to allow farmers to bring their cattle to market at Bishop's Waltham, with trains made of a mix of cattle trucks and carriages. The line was closed to passenger traffic in 1932, but goods services remained, becoming ever less frequent and regular before finally stopping in the 1960s. Bishop's Waltham station was a distinctive brick/half-timbered design with numerous architectural details produced in terracotta by the local brickworks, which stood where the main roundabout in the town now is. A short section of the line and a pair of level crossing gates next to the roundabout have been preserved.

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