Masbury railway station

Masbury
Masbury Station, with Up express in 1959
Location
Place	nr Shepton Mallet
Area	Mendip
Grid reference	ST604473
Operations
Pre-grouping	Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway
Post-grouping	SR and LMSR Western Region of British Railways
Platforms	2
History
20 July 1874	Opened (Masbury)
26 September 1938	Renamed (Masbury Halt)
7 March 1966	Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
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Masbury railway station was a small isolated station on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway's main line between Evercreech Junction and Bath. It was situated to the north of Shepton Mallet and near the summit of the line as it crossed the Mendip Hills. The station opened in 1874 and closed with the rest of the line under the Beeching Axe in March 1966.

Maesbury Railway Cutting is a 2 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest between East Horrington and Gurney Slade and a Geological Conservation Review site because it exposes approximately 135 metres of strata representing the middle and upper Lower Limestone Shales and the basal Black Rock Limestone. Both formations are of early Carboniferous (Courceyan) age. It lies close to the Iron Age hill fort Maesbury Castle.

The station was never heavily used, and from 1938 it was reduced to a "halt" status. A feature of the station was a substantial stone-built stationmaster's house on the main northbound platform. The front of the house, which is still standing and in private hands, features a fanciful carving of Maesbury Castle as a medieval castle: in fact, Maesbury is an Iron Age fort nearby. There is about half a mile of ramparts and views to Glastonbury Tor. It is mostly on private land but a public footpath crosses it.

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Shepton Mallet (Charlton Road) Line and station closed		Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway LSWR & Midland Railways		Binegar Line and station closed

References

• Somerset Railway Stations, by Mike Oakley, Dovecote Press, 2002.
• Station on navigable O.S. map
• Station remains

Coordinates: 51°13′25″N 2°34′06″W / 51.22351°N 2.56844°W / 51.22351; -2.56844