Sharpness railway station served the village and docks of

Sharpness Sharpness may refer to: * Sharpness, Gloucestershire, a port in England * Sharpness (cutting), the capacity of a surface to initiate a cut on another surface * Sharpness (visual), a combination of resolution and acutance ** Critical focus or cr ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

from 1875 to 1964.

History

The station was on the

Sharpness Branch Line The Sharpness branch line is a railway in Gloucestershire, England, built by the Midland Railway (MR) to connect the port of Sharpness, Gloucestershire, Sharpness to the main Bristol and Gloucester Railway. The line opened for goods traffic in 1 ...

, part of the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

, which connected the

Bristol and Gloucester Railway The Bristol and Gloucester Railway was a railway company opened in 1844 to run services between Bristol and Gloucester. It was built on the , but it was acquired in 1845 by the Midland Railway, which also acquired the Birmingham and Gloucester Ra ...

main line at Berkeley Road station with the docks at Sharpness. The Sharpness New Docks & Gloucester & Birmingham Navigation Company started operation at Sharpness in 1874. The branch line was opened to freight traffic in August 1875 with passenger services starting a year later. Sharpness station was originally a terminus for the passenger services and was no more than a temporary platform next to the docks. But in 1879, the Sharpness branch became a through-route with the opening of the

Severn Railway Bridge The Severn Railway Bridge (historically called the Severn Bridge) was a bridge carrying the railway across the River Severn between Sharpness and Lydney in Gloucestershire, England. It was built in the 1870s by the Severn Bridge Railway C ...

, connecting Sharpness with the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...

side of the

Severn Estuary The Severn Estuary () is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England (from North Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire) and South Wales (from Cardiff, Newport to Monmouthshire). Its very h ...

and enabling through services between Berkeley Road and Lydney Town railway station, some of which ran on to

Lydbrook Lydbrook is a civil parish in the Forest of Dean, a local government district in the English county of Gloucestershire and is located in the Wye Valley. It is on the north west edge of the Forest of Dean's present legal boundary proper. It c ...

. The new station, built on a curve, had a brick building on the "up" platform (towards Berkeley) and a small shelter on the down platform. Children from Sharpness attending school in Lydney were among the passengers. After 1931, the line was singled. Through-services to Lydney on the line ceased abruptly in October 1960 when the Severn Railway Bridge was damaged beyond economic repair in a shipping accident, and Sharpness resumed its earlier status as a branch line terminus. Passenger services ceased on the branch in November 1964 and goods facilities were withdrawn in January 1966. The station buildings were demolished. The line to the docks is still open for very occasional freight services. The Vale of Berkeley Railway Group has campaigned to restore the station and railway. On 22 October 2019, Stroud District Council announced a draft plan to build a railway station in Sharpness, to support housebuilding plans.

Services

References

Stroud District Former Severn and Wye Railway stations Disused railway stations in Gloucestershire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1876 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1964 Beeching closures in England {{Gloucestershire-struct-stub