Paulton Halt railway station was on the

Camerton branch The Bristol and North Somerset Railway was a railway line in the West of England that connected Bristol with Radstock, through Pensford and further into northern Somerset, to allow access to the Somerset Coalfield. The line ran almost due so ...

of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. It was in use from 1914 until 1925, however it was closed for 8½ of these 12 years due to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

History

The

Bristol and North Somerset Railway The Bristol and North Somerset Railway was a railway line in the West of England that connected Bristol with Radstock, through Pensford and further into northern Somerset, to allow access to the Somerset Coalfield. The line ran almost due so ...

(B&NSR) opened a branch line from to on 1 March 1882, although it had been funded by the

(GWR) which worked the trains on the line from the outset and purchased the B&NSR Company in 1884. The line was extended from Camerton to in 1910 where it made a connection with the GWR's Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Line. There was no station between Hallatrow and Camerton until was opened at the same time as the line was opened through to Limpley Stoke, and on 5 January 1914 Paulton Halt itself was opened. The term 'halt' was used by the GWR to denote

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

s without staff or goods facilities. Passenger services had only been calling for a little over a year when, on 22 March 1915, they were withdrawn from the line due to the war. They were eventually restored on 9 July 1923, four and a half years after hostilities had ceased. They did not last long as they were withdrawn again on 21 September 1925, never to be resumed. Freight trains continued to operate through the station until 8 February 1932 and the track was lifted shortly afterwards.

Description

The stone-built

platform Platform may refer to: Arts * Platform, an arts centre at The Bridge, Easterhouse, Glasgow * ''Platform'' (1993 film), a 1993 Bollywood action film * ''Platform'' (2000 film), a 2000 film by Jia Zhangke * '' The Platform'' (2019 film) * Pla ...

was situated on the north side of the line, from Hallatrow at a place known as Gossard's Bridge; the

Cam Brook The Cam brook is a small river in Somerset, England. It rises near Hinton Blewitt, flows through Cameley, Temple Cloud, Camerton, Dunkerton and Combe Hay. It then joins the Wellow Brook at Midford to form Midford Brook before joining t ...

was on the south side of the line opposite the platform. It was long, wide and high. Three oil lamps were provided and a plan suggests that a shelter was intended, but no photographic evidence of it exists. Access was by a footpath from the Paulton to High Littleton road that crossed the line at the east end of the station on a bridge. In 2010 a portion of the platform edge still stood, as did the access path and some railway fencing.

Services

Passenger trains on the Hallatrow to Limpley Stoke line were operated by steam railmotors or, later, by auto trains. In 1914 there were five trains each day, Monday to Saturday only. In 1923 this had been reduced to just four.

References

{{reflist Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1914 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1915 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1923 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1925 Former Great Western Railway stations Disused railway stations in Bath & North East Somerset