Ketton and Collyweston railway station

Ketton and Collyweston railway station is a former station serving the villages of Ketton, Geeston, Aldgate and Collyweston, Rutland.[2] It is located in Geeston adjacent to a level crossing on the Ketton to Collyweston road. It is under half a mile from Ketton but over a mile from Collyweston. It closed in 1966.

Ketton & Collyweston
Signal box at the former station in 1998
LocationKetton, Rutland
England
Grid referenceSK984041
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Pre-groupingMidland Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Eastern Region of British Railways
Key dates
1 May 1848Opened as Ketton
8 July 1935renamed Ketton and Collyweston
6 June 1966Closed[1]
Remains of the station in 1998
The location of Ketton Station, which served the villages around Ketton from 1848 to 1966.

History

The station was opened by the Midland Railway as Ketton on 1 May 1848, on the Syston and Peterborough Railway about two years after the rest of the line opened. From 1851, trains using the LNWR Rugby and Stamford Railway [3] railway which joined at Luffenham[4] passed through the station but generally did not stop.[5]

Although much of the line had opened in 1846, there was a dispute with Lord Harborough over the course of the line and this section was not opened until 1848. It was built next to a level crossing on the road between Ketton and Collyweston. The handsome station building was built in a Victorian ecclesiastical Tudor pattern of local stone and Collyweston tiles. For good measure it included a small belfry though whether this was ever used is not known. These handsome buildings were demolished in the course of the year 1973. On the other platform was a smaller building in a combination of stone and timber, built in 1872.

To gain a more direct route, in 1879 the LNWR built a line from Seaton to Yarwell junction near Wansford on its Northampton to Peterborough line, thus bypassing the section through Luffenham, though it continued to run a few trains.

On both sides of the double track were ample sidings, particularly on the down Peterborough side where three lines served a good shed and loading dock with a crane. Unusually, access to the three minor sidings was by means of a wagon turntable rather than points. There was a signal box on the other side of the road.

In the early part of the 20th century the station saw six or seven Midland Railway trains per day and five LNWR trains between Seaton and Stamford. After the war this reduced to five a day on the Midland routes with a few on the branch from Seaton.

At grouping in 1923 it became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway. It received its final name in 1935.

The line from Seaton was closed and lifted in 1966, but the main Midland line is still in operation for trains from Leicester to Peterborough. The station buildings no longer exist.

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Luffenham
Line open, station closed		   Midland Railway
Leicester to Peterborough line		   Stamford
Line and station open
  London and North Western Railway
Seaton branch		  

References
  1. Butt, R.V.J., (1995) The Directory of Railway Stations, Yeovil: Patrick Stephens
  2. British Railways Atlas.1947. p.17
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2020.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Preston Hendry, R., Powell Hendry, R., (1982) An historical survey of selected LMS stations: layouts and illustrations. Vol. 1 Oxford Publishing
  5. Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation Guide, February 1863

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