Pewsey railway station serves the large village of Pewsey in the county of Wiltshire, England. The station is on the Berks and Hants line, 75 miles 26 chains (75.33 mi; 121.2 km) measured from the zero point at London Paddington,[1] and served by intercity trains operated by Great Western Railway between London and the West Country. The average journey time to Paddington from Pewsey is just over an hour. Services between Pewsey and Bedwyn, the next station up the line, are infrequent, most eastbound services next calling at Hungerford, Newbury or Reading instead. This is because Bedwyn was the most westerly point of the Network SouthEast on this line, while Pewsey was an InterCity station.
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Pewsey station (despite its relatively few services) has decent passenger usage due to its proximity to Marlborough, about 6 miles (10 km) away, and is in close proximity to other nearby towns and villages with no railway station.
The station was opened by the Berks and Hants Extension Railway on 11 November 1862 when the railway opened, connecting the earlier Berks and Hants Railway with the Devizes branch of the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway, thereby creating a shorter route from London Paddington station to Weymouth. On 2 July 1906 the line became part of the Reading to Taunton line following the opening of the Castle Cary Cut-Off.[2]
The railway was operated from the start by the Great Western Railway and had been built using its 7 ft (2,134 mm) broad gauge, but in 1874 it was converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge. Initially it was just a single track with a platform on the south side. A passing loop and second platform was installed at Pewsey after a couple of years, and the line was converted to double track in 1899 in preparation for the opening of the Stert and Westbury Railway at Patney and Chirton. A signal box was situated on the west end of the eastbound platform; it was replaced by a larger signal box in 1933 but this was closed in 1966.[2]
In 1969, the footbridge was replaced with a secondhand one brought from Cookham. By 2015 this bridge was in poor condition and was itself replaced by Network Rail with a new, taller, structure incorporating a rainwater drainage system and costing £465,000. In 1984 the old wooden waiting room on the eastbound platform was demolished and replaced by a brick-built shelter. This was built to match the distinctive Berks and Hants style of the original station buildings which still stand on the opposite platform. The following year the station was awarded a First Class award in the Best Preserved Station competition of the Association of Railway Preservation Societies.[2]
The station celebrated its 145th birthday on 9 November 2007. A cake was cut by Pewsey Parish Council chairman, Alex Carder, with First Great Western service delivery manager Alison Stone.
Trevor Beaven, a long-serving stationmaster who retired in 2020,[citation needed] was awarded an MBE for his services in 1999.[3]
Pewsey Station is mentioned in the December 2005 film, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The train evacuating the Pevensie children from London Paddington stops at a rural station which is identified by the train guard as Pewsey. In actuality, the scene was shot at Highley Station on the preserved Severn Valley Railway. Even so, the film is correct in as much as any train going to Coombe Halt, the ultimate destination of the Pevensie children, would have to pass through Pewsey on its way from London Paddington.
Padgett, David (June 2018) [1989]. Munsey, Myles (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 3: Western & Wales (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. map 12B. ISBN 978-1-9996271-0-2. Oakley, Mike (2004). Wiltshire Railway Stations. Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press. ISBN 1-904349-33-1.
