St Mary Church Road railway station

St Mary Church Road
Location
Place	St Mary Church
Area	Vale of Glamorgan
Coordinates	51°26′04″N 3°24′42″W / 51.4345°N 3.4117°W / 51.4345; -3.4117Coordinates: 51°26′04″N 3°24′42″W / 51.4345°N 3.4117°W / 51.4345; -3.4117
Operations
Original company	Taff Vale Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Platforms	1
History
1 October 1892	opened
3 May 1930	closed to passengers
1 November 1932	closed to goods
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St Mary Church Road railway station was a railway station in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales.

Description

The station was one of the three original stations opened on the Cowbridge and Aberthaw Railway. It served the village of St Mary Church, which was about a mile to the west, and also served a number of other smaller settlements, none of which were particularly close to the railway.^[1] The station consisted of a single platform with a building of red and yellow bricks. It was of a similar design to the one at Cowbridge, but smaller. It had a goods-loop opposite the platform. The station was fully signalled and the signal box was located on the platform beside the passenger building. St Mary Church Road was the only station on the Cowbridge-Aberthaw line to be signaled. The remainder of the line was worked on the 'one engine in steam' principle.^[2]

History

Like the rest of the stations between Cowbridge and Aberthaw Low Level, St Mary Church Road was underused from the outset. The signal box was closed in 1900 and the station was without signals from then on.^[3] The loop was retained as a siding and new ground-frames were added to control it.

Closure

The passenger service ended in 1930. Goods facilities lasted for another two years but they themselves were very meagre.^[4] Goods came mostly from private sidings, but by the 1930s, the limeworking facilities at Aberthaw and Greldaw were closed. The Aberthaw Cement Works sent most of its traffic by the Vale of Glamorgan Line and the limeworks at St Athan sent only small amounts of traffic by rail. By 1932, the station handled just a small amount of agricultural traffic. The Great Western Railway duly closed the station on the 1 November 1932.^[5] After closure, the stationmaster, Mr Billy Lewis, was transferred to Ystradowen.

The site today

Although most traces of the station are gone, the red and yellow station building still stands, and is in quite good condition. It now stands in a small rural car park.

Notes

References

• Chapman, C. (1984)).The Cowbridge Railway. Oxford Publishing Company
• Hall, M. (2009).Lost Railways of South Wales. Countryside Books