LMS Route: Nuneaton to Leamington

Chilvers Coton Station

Chilvers Coton Station was built by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) and opened on 12th September 1850 together with the other stations on the Coventry to Nuneaton Line. The station was located in a cutting, just to the north of where the Coventry to Nuneaton line passed under College Street. At the Nuneaton end of the station the railway crossed over the Coventry Canal with the platforms stopping just short of the underbridge. Access to the station was via a ramped pathway which led down from College Street to the down platform. Passengers wishing to cross to the up (Coventry) platform used a boarded porter's crossing until at sometime in LMS days a steel framed passenger footbridge was installed. The Railway Clearing House's Handbook of Railway Stations records that the station served only passenger with no parcels or goods facilities as these were available from Nuneaton station which was only a mile and a half away. The station closed on 18th January 1965 when passenger services between Nuneaton and Coventry were withdrawn.

Ref: lnwrcc3280 G Biddle Looking from the canal bridge towards Coventry with the up platform as seen on the left on 28th June 1950

Ref: lnwrcc3280a G Biddle Close up showing Chilvers Coton's 1882 buildings provided for both platform erected at a total cost of £500

Ref: lnwrcc1481 WoW View from College Street bridge of the station looking towards Nuneaton with the arches in the distance

Ref: lnwrcc35 G Edmands Chilvers Coton station's BR 'Totem' station name board fixed to one of the lampposts found on both platforms

Ref: lnwrcc3286 E Veasey An example of Chilvers Coton award winning garden, in this instance what appears to be a royal Coat of Arms

Ref: lnwrcc3281 D Mundy Looking towards Coventry showing the station some six months after the withdrawal of passenger services in 1965

Ref: lnwrcc3279 P Lee A view of Chilvers Coton Station looking towards Nuneaton not long after it was closed in early 1965

Ref: lnwrcc3279a P Lee Close up of the station's two waiting rooms located on the up platform and the gent's toilets on the right

Ref: lnwrcc34 P Lee View of the Nuneaton end of the down platform and the bridge carrying the railway over the Coventry Canal

Ref: lnwrcc3287 E Veasey Station staff pose before their garden display which included the station name picked out with white washed stones

Trains seen at Chilvers Coton

Ref: lnwrcc2092 M Mensing A two-car BRC&W DMU is seen arriving at the station on the 5:28pm Leamington to Nuneaton service

Ref: lnwrcc3285 M Mensing A two-car Park Royal Diesel Multiple Unit passes through the closed station on a down shuttle service to Coventry

Ref: lnwrcc3288 M Mensing A two-car Park Royal DMU passes through the closed station on an up special shuttle service to Coventry

Ref: lnwrcc3289 M Mensing A two-car Metro-Cammell DMU passes through the station on an up service to Leamington on 12th May 1964

Ref: lnwrcc3290 M Mensing English Electric D219 'Caronia' passes through the station on the diverted 4:15pm New Street to Euston service

Ref: lnwrcc36 Anon Ex-LMS 4P 2-6-4T No 42330, runs bunker first as it arrives at the station with the 6:56pm Coventry to Nuneaton service

Coton Viaduct

Ref: lnwrcc2093 WoW An early 20th century view of Coton Arches which carried the Nuneaton to Coventry railway over Coventry Road

Ref: lnwrcc2095 WoW A 1920s view of Coton Arches which carried the Nuneaton to Coventry railway over Coventry Road and Ave Road

Ref: lnwrcc2094 WoW Another view of Coton Arches, taken on 17th September 1966, carrying the railway over the road junctions

Ref: lnwrcc3290 K Draper Coton Arches the well known bridge with its wide shallow central arch being inspected in the 1960s

Ordnance Survey Maps and boundary plans

Ref: lnwrcc3282 National Library of Scotland An 1886 OS map of Chilvers Coton Station showing its relationship to College Street and the Coventry Canal

Ref: lnwrcc3282 National Library of Scotland A 1913 OS map of Chilvers Coton Station showing its relationship to College Street and the Coventry Canal

Ref: lnwrcc3284 National Library of Scotland A 1923 OS map of Chilvers Coton Station showing its relationship to College Street and the Coventry Canal

Ref: lnwrcc3278 P Lee A plan of the original bridge over the Nuneaton-Coventry turnpike road where it ended at the Nuneaton Toll House