Semley railway station

Semley was a railway station in the county of Wiltshire, in England. Served by trains on the Waterloo to Exeter line, it was the nearest station to the town of Shaftesbury, Dorset. Although several plans were made, Shaftesbury's location on a hill prevented the town from having its own station.

The nearest station to Shaftesbury is now Gillingham.

History

Opened on the 2nd of May, 1859 by the Salisbury and Yeovil Railway, it became part of the London and South Western Railway. Taken into the Southern Railway in the grouping of 1923 it was placed in the Western Region when the railways were nationalised in 1948. The station closed when local trains were withdrawn during the Beeching purges, taking effect on the 7th March, 1966.

The Site Today

An industrial and commercial estate occupies the site just off the A350 Shaftesbury to Warminster road. The former Station building, Signal Box and Goods shed survive. Trains on the West of England Main Line still pass on the line through the site.

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Further reading

*cite book|author=R.V.J.Butt, |title= The Directory of Railway Stations |publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd |year=1995 ISBN 1 85260 508 1

External References

*http://www.semleystation.com/html/where.html
*http://www.trainweb.org/railwest/railco/sr/se1967.html