The Great Western Railway Branch
In 1862, the Berks and Hants Extension Railway built a broad gauge railway line from Hungerford, itself originally the terminus of a branch line from Reading, to Devizes. At Devizes the new line linked up with the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway branch line from Trowbridge which had opened in 1857.
The new B&HER line passed to the south of Savernake Forest and a station was opened called Savernake. In 1864, the Marlborough Railway opened a 5.5-mile long broad gauge branch line from Savernake to a terminus station in Marlborough. The branch line had no intermediate stations, and trains departed from a new platform at Savernake. The Marlborough Railway and the Berks and Hants Extension Railway were both absorbed by the Great Western Railway and were converted to standard gauge in 1874.
The GWR station in Marlborough was to the south-east of the town centre and had a substantial L-shaped red brick building with waiting rooms for both first-class and ordinary passengers. It had a single platform, and goods facilities were provided at the northern end of it. There was also a separate goods yard to the south of the station and an engine shed to the north east near the buffer stops.
Marlborough GWR station became the focus for road traffic in the area, with buses along the Bath road, now the A4 to Calne from the time the station opened. Many of the bus services were operated by the GWR.
Read more about this topic: Marlborough Railway Stations
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