Monument record 6719/2 - Banbury and Cheltenham District Line

Disused Railway. What emerged finally as the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Line was an amalgamation of 3 schemes built over the period 1855-87. The line was completed in 1887 when the Chipping Norton section to King's Sutton on the Birmingham and Oxford line opened.Only a very short length of the line falls within Northamptonshire. Passenger services began to reduce after 1939. Adderbury to Kings Sutton closed finally in 1969.

{1} The Great Western Railway line from Cheltenham (SO 928217) to King 's Sutton, Banbury (SP 495357) was opened in 1881. The line from Kings Sutton to Chipping Norton (SP 307629) was closed 4th June 1951, the line from Kingham (SP 256227) to Lansdown Junction, Cheltenham was closed 15th October 1962 and the last section between
Kingham and Chipping Norton closed 3rd December 1962.

{2} (SO 928217 - SP 496355) The railway from Cheltenham to Banbury was built by three companies from 1855-7. First came the Chipping Norton Branch, opened on 30th August 1855 by the Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Company. Meanwhile the West Midland Company completed the Bourton-on-the-Water Railway running west from Chipping Norton, which opened on 1st March 1862. In 1873 the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway emerged from a number of schemes: Cheltenham to Bourton-on-the-Water opening on 1st June 1881 and Chipping Norton to King's Sutton on 6th April 1887. (See Illustration Card) Services were gradually withdrawn and the railway closed down between 1951 and 1964.

<1> Hadfield, C & AM, 1973, The Cotswolds: A New Study, p. 171 (Book). SNN114864.

<3> Ordnance Survey Map (Scale/date), OS 1:10,000 1978 (Map). SNN112944.

<4> Christiansen, R, 1981, Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Thames and Severn, p. 79-80 (Book). SNN114161.

Record last edited

Feb 17 2025 6:14PM