Aynho for Deddington
View of the station site in May 2009, with the original station building on the left. In the background a northbound train can be seen on the flyover of Aynho Junction
General information
LocationAynho, Northamptonshire
England
Grid referenceSP498324
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyOxford & Rugby Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Western Region of British Railways
Key dates
2 September 1850Station opens as Aynho
UnknownStation renamed Aynho for Deddington
2 November 1964Station closes

Aynho for Deddington railway station was a railway station serving the village of Aynho in Northamptonshire, England. It was on what is now known as the Cherwell Valley Line.

History

When the first section of the Oxford and Rugby Railway was opened as far as Banbury on 2 September 1850,[1][2] there were only three intermediate stations, the northernmost of which was Aynho.[1][3] The Oxford & Rugby Railway was absorbed by the Great Western Railway prior to opening.[2]

An accident occurred close to the station on 30 September 1852 when a special train ran into the back of a stopping train. The special train was to celebrate the opening of the Birmingham and Oxford Junction Railway and the locomotive, The Lord of The Isles, was being driven by Mr Brunel and Mr Gooch. The accident occurred because the stopping train to Banbury was a little delayed as it was market day, and the station master wasn't aware of the special train until it appeared at "very great speed". The driver of the Banbury train got his train moving to reduce the impact, but in the accident the Lord of the Isles was derailed and damaged, and several people were seriously injured.[4]

The railway was broad gauge when built, but eventually the Great Western Railway lost their battle to spread the broad gauge further North. With the standardisation of gauge this line was one of the first main lines to be converted, the last broad gauge train from Oxford to Birmingham ran at the end of March 1869.

An unpleasant accident occurred at the station in September 1884, when the guard of a goods train was hit by the 11:40 express train. His body was reportedly "cut to pieces" and the parts of his "body were scattered all about the line".[5]

To the north of the station is Aynho Junction, the northern end of the Bicester "cut-off" line, which was brought into use in 1910.[6][7] This route passes close to Aynho station, and a nearby station named Aynho Park was provided on the Bicester "cut-off" route.[6][8]

Another fatality occurred at the station in August 1942 when Baroness Lilian Helen van Lennep (a Dutch national), who had been staying with Lady Fairfax Cartwright (widow of Fairfax Leighton Cartwright) at The Grammar House, was struck by an express train while crossing the line via the barrow crossing.[9]

The station passed on to the Western Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. It was then closed by the British Railways Board, to goods on 4 May 1964 and to passengers on 2 November 1964, along with three other stations between Leamington Spa and Didcot; by this time it had been renamed Aynho for Deddington.[10][11] GWR sources and Railway Clearing House guides erroneously listed this as Aynho for Doddington from time to time.

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
King's Sutton
Line and station open		   Great Western Railway
Oxford and Rugby Railway		   Fritwell & Somerton
Line open, station closed

The site today

Trains on the Cherwell Valley Line pass the site.

References

  1. 1 2 MacDermot 1927, p. 300.
  2. 1 2 Mitchell & Smith 2003, Historical Background.
  3. ↑ Mitchell & Smith 2003, fig. 91.
  4. ↑ Accident at the Opening of the Oxford and Birmingham Railway, Bell's Weekly Messenger, 4 October 1852, p5
  5. ↑ Aynho, Oxford Journal, 20 September 1884, p6
  6. 1 2 MacDermot 1931, pp. 448–449.
  7. ↑ Mitchell & Smith 2003, fig. 96.
  8. ↑ Mitchell & Smith 2002, fig. 82.
  9. ↑ Baroness Killed on Railway Line, Banbury Advertiser, 19 August 1942, p1
  10. ↑ Railway Magazine, December 1964, p. 920
  11. ↑ Mitchell & Smith 2003, fig. 94.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
  • MacDermot, E.T. (1927). History of the Great Western Railway. Vol. I (1st ed.). Paddington: Great Western Railway.
  • MacDermot, E.T. (1931). History of the Great Western Railway. Vol. II (1st ed.). Paddington: Great Western Railway.
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (September 2002). Princes Risborough to Banbury. Western Main Lines. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-901706-85-0.
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (February 2003). Didcot to Banbury. Western Main Lines. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-904474-02-0.
  • "Services withdrawn by L.M.R.". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 110, no. 764. Westminster: Tothill Press. December 1964.

Further reading

  • Hendry, R. Preston; Hendry, R. Powell (1992). Paddington to the Mersey. Oxford Publishing Company. pp. 20–21. ISBN 9780860934424. OCLC 877729237.

51°59′17″N 1°16′30″W / 51.98804°N 1.27504°W / 51.98804; -1.27504

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