Sancta Lane Station / East & West Junction

Sancta Lane Station

Sancta Lane (the original name of what is now Sanctus Road) was the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway's (OWWR) branch terminus built in a field called 'Ladye Meadow' and was the first station to open in Stratford upon Avon. It was constructed from the outset as a 'narrow gauge' (4 foot 8½ inches) railway and was a simple layout comprising engine shed, 40 foot turntable, goods shed and single platform with a run round loop to release the locomotive. The second railway to arrive in Stratford upon Avon was the mixed gauge line from Hatton opened on 9th October 1860 by the independent Stratford on Avon Railway Company with its terminal being adjacent to Birmingham Road. It was apparent to both companies that joining the two lines opened up considerable commercial benefits so a new station was built between the two existing termini. This resulted in Sancta Lane being only operational for a very brief period of time, from 12th July 1859 to 24th July 1861. From the 1st August 1861 through services commenced between Leamington and Malvern. Some facilities were still used, the engine shed and turntable was still required and is thought to have existed until a new shed built on the down side to the south of Alcester Road was erected (see image 'gwrsa3041'). A bridge carrying Sancta Lane across the extended line was erected in 1864 replacing the gated crossing previously provided.

The site of Sancta Lane station was near to where the exchange line from the former SMJ station met the GWR's West of England route and where the Sanctus Road bridge is today. Sancta Lane has become Sanctus Street on one side of the bridge and Sanctus Road on the other. There are no known photographs of Sanctus Lane station due in part to its brief existence and being at the dawn of photography. We have however included photographs taken nearly a century later as they were taken within yards of the site of the former Sanctus Lane station.

Ref: gwrsanct3160
A Baker
A schematic plan of the OW&WR Railway's 1859 branch terminus at Stratford on Avon

East & West Junction

The Act for making the East & West Junction Railway (E&WJR) from the Northampton and Banbury Junction Railway to the Great Western Railway at Stratford-on-Avon was passed on 23rd June 1864. The new railway planned to use the Stratford branch terminus of the Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OWWR) at Sancta Lane. Running powers were obtained and a simple junction was constructed between the two railways just to the south of the terminus location. However on 1st January 1863, eighteen months before this Act had been passed, Sancta Lane station had been shut to passengers. The closure of the terminus was the inevitable consequence of the connection between the OWWR branch and the Stratford-on-Avon Railway (SoAR), which entered the town from the north. The connection between these two railways had been completed on 24th July 1861 and they started to rationalise their passenger facilities in the following year. This initially involved the construction of a new temporary station structure adjacent to the Alcester Road, which was nearer to the centre of town than the Sancta Lane site. Then at the end of 1865, the station building from the (SoAR) terminus at Birmingham Road was moved and re-erected at the Alcester Road station forming a more permanent replacement structure.

By the time the E&WJR finally opened their line from Kineton to Stratford on 1st July 1873, they no longer wanted to use the junction with the Great Western Railway (GWR) for their passenger services. The E&WJR had plans to extend west from Stratford to connect with the Evesham & Redditch Railway at Broom and had commenced construction of a temporary passenger terminus on their own line. This Stratford station was incomplete when the official inspection of their line occurred on 28th June 1873. While when a second inspection took place on 4th July 1873, it was noted that the link to the GWR was only for goods and minerals. Goods traffic on the E&WJR had been expected to be heavy. In particular, iron ore quarried in Northamptonshire was being transported by the LNWR, via Birmingham, to the blast furnaces in South Wales. The E&WJR provided a more direct route, so to facilitate this traffic the E&WJR constructed exchange sidings adjacent to the junction with the GWR at Stratford. Wagons were to be deposited here before being collected by GWR goods trains and taken south to Honeybourne junction and onwards to South Wales. The GWR objected to the extra traffic on their single track branch insisting that this traffic should instead be transferred to their main line at Fenny Compton (this would be financially better for the GWR as a greater proportion of the mileage would be on GWR tracks). An alternative route over the Midland Railway became available when the E&WJR extension to Broom was opened on 2nd June 1879, but by then higher quality and cheaper Spanish ore was being directly imported to South Wales.

Plans from 1873 show that although the junction with the GWR at Stratford was authorised as a double track junction (This was in accordance with Board of Trade requirements for running junctions – even between single track lines), only a single line connection had been made. At some time prior to 1885, the authorised double track junction arrangement was constructed, as seen in the plan 'gwrsanct2465'. Signalling for the junction was provided by McKenzie & Holland and they built a signal box with 14 levers to control the switches (points) and signals at the junction. This signal box was called ‘East & West Junction Signal Box’ and initially had a wooden nameplate. A replacement cast iron nameplate was ordered for the signal box on 18th July 1899 (order 210). The signal box was constructed to their type 1 design with a twelve foot three inch square locking room on the ground floor. This locking room was brick built with a wide arched window on each side. The operating floor above was reached by an external staircase and had two up / two across pane windows on three sides (see 'gwrsanct2481' and 'gwr-smjsa1552'). The signal box had a hipped roof. This design dates the signal box to before 1876 and it was most probably opened at the same time that the authorised double track junction was completed.

In July 1888 GWR letters identify the goods traffic from the exchange sidings as being light (see 'gwrsanct3922'). One suggested locking the frame with an Annett’s Key (which would be attached to the relevant single line train staffs). This would save the wages of the signalman. Another letter dated December 1888 suggested the track could be simplified, dispensing with the double junction arrangement (see 'gwrsanct3920'). The work was agreed in January 1889, but before it could be actioned, the Armagh rail disaster had resulted in the passing of the Regulation of Railways Act on 30th August 1889. The planned work was reviewed in the light of these Regulations and initially complete disconnection of the junction was proposed. Correspondence with the E&WJR during 1890 shows that they did not want the junction to be disconnected, but also refused to pay anything towards the any alterations or the annual operating costs, which were estimated as £107 (see 'gwrsanct3921'). In September 1891 analysis of the goods traffic receipts were used to justify retaining the junction (see 'gwrsanct3919'). Receipts from the E&WJR Loco Coal alone had amounted to £924 for the preceding year, while the estimated cost of interlocking the switches and signals was only £325. As a result the junction was retained but became a gated exchange siding.

In April 1896, concerns was raised regarding the East & West Junction signal box (see 'gwrsanct3918'). What was done is unknown, but the signal box was still in situ when the branch line was doubled in 1908. The doubling required more switches and signals at the junction and a replacement GW stud frame with 18 levers at 5½ inch centres was installed in the existing signal box. The signal box name was changed to ‘S&M Junction Signal Box’, with the replacement nameplate ordered on 8th February 1917 (order 281).

The Great Western Railway issued operating instructions for specific locations when these were required. Those issued in March 1921 for working traffic to and from the E&WJR Exchange Sidings at Stratford can be seen at 'gwrsanct3923'. After the grouping in 1923 the signal box at the junction was again renamed, becoming ‘Stratford-upon-Avon LMS Junc.’.

Major changes occurred in April 1960 with the construction of a new curve to the south which provided a direct route for iron ore traffic from Banbury to South Wales. The original junction was reduced to a single facing switch connection on the ex-GWR down line with a trailing cross-over provided to the up line. The Stratford-upon-Avon LM Junc. signal box was closed on Sunday 24th April 1960 when the new Evesham Road Crossing Signal Box opened. This replaced the three existing signal boxes at; Evesham Road Crossing, Stratford-upon-Avon LM Junc. and Stratford-upon-Avon Old Town (see Evesham Road Crossing for more details).

The junction was closed on Monday 1st March 1965.

Robert Ferris