Twerton on Avon railway station is a former railway station in Bath, Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

.

Architecture and Opening

Twerton was named after village that it served (west of Bath on the south bank of the Avon) though at the time it was also called Twiverton. The station was built in Gothic style variously called Tudor or Jacobethan. This style is seen from the tunnel mouths west of Twerton to Bath Spa station

Bath Spa railway station

Bath Spa railway station is the principal railway station in the city of Bath, in South West England.-Architecture:Bath Spa station was built in 1840 for the Great Western Railway by Brunel and is a grade II* listed building...

 including many arches and embellishment in the viaduct itself. This is something of a contrast to the Georgian building

Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...

s in the centre of Bath north of the river, but is reflected in the Victorian domestic architecture on the southern suburbs. It opened as a railway station on 16 December 1840 for Great Western Railway

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

 services from Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

. Four trains a day stopped at Twerton in each direction (out of eleven services each way between Bath and Bristol).

Subsequent history

Twerton station was operated by the Great Western Railway but was renamed Twerton on Avon in 1899 to avoid confusion with Tiverton.

Closure

The station was closed in 1917 as an economy measure during the First World War. Passenger traffic into Bath had been reduced by competition from the electric tram line which terminated in Twerton, and the station was not reopened after the end of the war. In 1929 Oldfield Park station

Oldfield Park railway station

Oldfield Park railway station is a suburban railway station in the city of Bath in Bath and North East Somerset, England. Situated at the junction of Brook Road and Moorland Road, it serves the mainly residential areas in southern Bath...

was opened nearby (but closer to Bath).

Current uses

The station building like the viaduct on which it sits is a Grade II listed structure, but was boarded up as of May 2006 and appears to be abandoned. A roadside cafe operates from its forecourt, but does not occupy any original parts of the station.

External links

• www.twerton.com - Twerton Community Site