Charlton Kings railway station

51°52′33″N 2°03′17″W / 51.8759°N 2.0548°W / 51.8759; -2.0548Grid referenceSO964196Platforms2Other informationStatusDisusedHistoryOriginal companyBanbury and Cheltenham Direct RailwayPre-groupingGreat Western RailwayPost-groupingGreat Western Railway
Western Region of British RailwaysKey dates1 June 1881Station opens15 October 1962Station closes

Charlton Kings railway station was a small station in Gloucestershire serving the village of Charlton Kings and the southern outskirts of Cheltenham Spa.

History

The station opened in 1881 with the opening of the Bourton-on-the-Water to Cheltenham section of the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway, which was operated and later taken over by the Great Western Railway.

From 1891, Charlton Kings station was also served by trains on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway line, which branched off the Banbury and Cheltenham line at Andoversford and formed a north–south link between Cheltenham to Swindon, Andover and the south coast. The M&SWJR had running rights over the GWR line.

Charlton Kings was a small station with a wooden building. The line through it was particularly busy during the First World War and the Second World War with heavy troop and machinery movements on the M&SWJR.But traffic declined rapidly after the Second World War, and Charlton Kings also faced competition from road transport services. The station was reduced to "halt" status in 1956, with goods facilities withdrawn a couple of years before that.

The M&SWJR line closed to passenger traffic in September 1961, and services on the Banbury to Cheltenham line were withdrawn on 15 October 1962, when Charlton Kings station closed. There is no trace of the station today.

Chelsea Building Society bought the disused land around 2004 and built a second smaller head office to contain its expanding head office operations. The current site is now occupied by a Lidl store.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Cheltenham Leckhampton Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Midland and South Western Junction Railway		Andoversford Junction Line and station closed
		Great Western Railway Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway

References

• Mike Oakley, Gloucestershire Railway Stations, 2003, Dovecote Press, Wimborne, ISBN 1-904349-24-2, pp35–36