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The Bristol & Exeter Railway was a railway company formed to connect Bristol and Exeter. It was friendly to the Great Western Railway, which had been opened between London and Bristol the previous year, and the two railways operated in collaboration.
The company's head office was situated outside their Bristol station. Designed by Samuel Fripp, it was opened in 1854.
In addition to the mainline from Bristol to Exeter (Devon), branches were opened to Clevedon, Cheddar and Wells, Weston-super-Mare, Chard, and Yeovil in Somerset, and to Tiverton, Devon. The Bristol & Exeter also worked a number of small independent railways: the Bristol and Portishead Port and Pier Railway, the Somerset Central Railway, the West Somerset Railway and Minehead Railway, the Devon and Somerset Railway, and the Exeter and Crediton Railway.
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History
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The Bristol & Exeter Railway was authorised by act of Parliament in 1836, following quickly on the 1835 act for construction of the Great Western Railway. Bristol merchants were anxious to secure a railway route to Exeter, which was an important commercial centre, and which had a harbour on the south coast, in the English Channel. Coastal shipping from the South coast and from continental Europe making for Bristol needed to navigate the hazardous north Cornwall coast after negotiating the waters round Land's End.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was appointed engineer, and the first broad gauge section of the line was completed to Bridgwater on 14 June, 1841, and the extension to Taunton in July 1842 - both using trains leased from the Great Western. The line was completed to Exeter in 1844.
At first the railway was worked by the Great Western Railway, but the Bristol & Exeter took over its own working in 1849. It built a carriage works at Bridgwater, which already had a railway engineering industry. George Hennet obtained permission in the town to cast atmospheric pipes for the South Devon Railway, the Bristol and Exeter Railway simply extended his works. The Hennet name continued to be linked to Bridgwater for many years, and was responsible for producing many wagons for various companies.
The Bristol & Exeter Railway was a considerable financial success and between 1844 and 1874, paying an average annual dividend of 4.5 per cent. The city fathers of Exeter refused the railway access to the dock of the Exeter Canal until 35 years after it entered the city in 1844. The railway built its own new dock, which could accommodate the new larger steam ships, and bankrupted the canal in 1867.
The railway was fully amalgamated with the Great Western Railway on 1 January 1876.
Stations
Mainline
- Bristol
- Bristol (1841, joint with Great Western Railway)
- Bedminster (1871)
- Somerset
- Flax Bourton (1860)
- Nailsea (1841)
- Clevedon Road (1841, renamed Yatton 1847)
- Banwell (1841, later renamed Puxton and Worle)
- Weston Junction (1841)
- Bleadon and Uphill (1871)
- Brent Knoll (1875)
- Highbridge (1841)
- Dunball (1873)
- Bridgwater (1841)
- Durston (1853)
- Taunton (1842)
- Norton Fitzwarren (1873)
- Wellington (1843)
- Beambridge (temporary station 1843-1844)
- Devon
- Burlescombe (1867)
- Tiverton Road (1844, renamed Tiverton Junction 1848)
- Cullompton (1844)
- Hele (1844)
- Silverton (1867)
- Stoke Canon (1860)
- Exeter (1844)
Branches
- Clevedon branch from Yatton
- Clevedon (1847)
- Cheddar Valley Railway from Yatton (also known as The Strawberry Line)
- Congresbury (1867)
- Sandford (1867)
- Winscombe (1867; called Woodborough for the first few months)
- Axbridge (1867)
- Cheddar (1867)
- Draycott (1870)
- Lodge Hill (1870, serving Westbury-sub-Mendip)
- Wookey (1871)
- Wells (1870)
- Weston branch (from Weston Junction)
- Weston (1841)
- Yeovil branch (joined before Durston)
- Athelney (1853)
- Langport (1853)
- Martock (1853)
- Montacute (1882)
- Yeovil (Hendford) (1853)
- Yeovil Pen Mill (1857, joint with Great Western Railway)
- Chard branch
- Thorn (1871, later renamed Thornfalcon)
- Hatch (1866)
- Ilminster (1866)
- Chard (1866, joint with London and South Western Railway)
- Tiverton branch
- Tiverton (1848)
Locomotives
Main article Bristol and Exeter Railway locomotives.
Locomotives for the railway were provided by the Great Western Railway until its working arrangement finished on 1 May 1849, after which the Bristol and Exeter provided its own locomotives. Engine sheds were provided at major stations and on some branches, and workshops were established at Bristol in September 1854.
Charles Hutton Gregory was responsible for the locomotives until May 1850, when James Pearson was appointed as Locomotive Engineer. He designed several classes of tank engines, including his distinctive large 4-2-4T locomotives, the first of which were introduced in 1854.
Chronology
- 1836 Bristol and Exeter Railway authorised by Act of Parliament
- 1841 Opened from Bristol to Bridgwater, also Weston branch
- 1842 Extended from Bridgwater to Taunton
- 1843 Extended to temporary terminus at Beam Bridge
- 1844 Main line completed to Exeter
- 1845 Independent Exeter station opened at Bristol
- 1847 Clevedon branch opened
- 1848 Tiverton branch opened
- 1849 Lease to Great Western Railway expires
- 1853 Yeovil branch opened
- 1854 Operation of Somerset Central Railway
- 1857 Yeovil branch extended to junction with Great Western Railway Weymouth line
- 1862 Exeter and Crediton Railway opened, operated by Bristol and Exeter Railway
- 1862 West Somerset Railway opened and leased to Bristol and Exeter Railway
- 1864 Exeter station rebuilt
- 1865 Grand Western Canal purchased
- 1866 Chard branch opened; Weston station rebuilt
- 1867 Bridgwater and Taunton Canal purchased
- 1868 Taunton station rebuilt
- 1869 Branch opened from Yatton to Cheddar
- 1870 Branch extended from Cheddar to Wells
- 1871 Devon and Somerset Railway opened to Wiveliscombe, worked by Bristol and Exeter Railway
- 1872 Bristol Harbour Railway opened, jointly owned with the Great Western Railway
- 1873 Devon and Somerset Railway completed to Barnstaple
- 1874 Minehead Railway opened, operated by Bristol and Exeter Railway
- 1875 Bristol to Taunton, Weston and Yeovil branches converted to mixed gauge; Wells branch converted to standard gauge
- 1876 Amalgamated with Great Western Railway
See also
Disused railway stations (Bristol to Exeter Line)