Oxford Rewley Road
Relocated Rewley Road station building
General information
Location	Oxford,City of Oxford England
Coordinates	51°45′11″N1°16′11″W / 51.75312°N 1.26983°W /51.75312; -1.26983
Grid reference	SP505063
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Buckinghamshire Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
20 May 1851[1]	Opened
1 October 1951[2]	Closed
Location

Oxford Rewley Road railway station was arailway station serving the city ofOxford,England, located immediately to the north of what is nowFrideswide Square on the site of theSaïd Business School, to the west ofRewley Road. It had features of significance in construction history, and was theterminus of theBuckinghamshire Railway, which was worked, and later absorbed, by theLondon and North Western Railway (L&NWR). In 1923, it became part of theLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) "Varsity Line" service fromCambridge viaBletchley.

The line from Bletchley to Oxford was opened by the Buckinghamshire Railway (worked and later owned by the L&NWR) in 1851. The Oxford station was built on the site ofRewley Abbey, a 13th-centuryCistercianmonastery.^[3]

The contractors for the main building were Fox, Henderson who were completingThe Crystal Palace at the same time, and they used similar — but not identical —prefabricatedcast iron main structural components.^[4][5] The historic importance of this feature caused it to be made a Grade II*listed building. There were twoplatform faces partly under a glass-roofedtrain shed; the latter was replaced to a different design in 1888.

The other main feature of the site wasRewley Road Swing Bridge,^[6] aswing bridge just to the north, taking the line across the navigableSheepwash Channel which links theRiver Thames and theCastle Mill Stream next to theOxford Canal.^[7] The bridge remains in situ but not in use today.^[8] There were also extensive sidings forcoal and other freight traffic, and amotive power depot.

TheGreat Western Railway had opened its station in 1852 on an adjacent site, the location of the currentOxford railway station, and the two stations came under joint management in 1933. Rewley Road was closed to passengers by theLondon Midland Region of British Railways on 1 October 1951 and services transferred to the ex-GWR station.^[2] The goods yard remained available for use until 5 April 1984^[9] and was cleared in 1998. After the station closed to passengers the main building was put to commercial use.

The station was described by various names. The station nameboards and official timetables simply stated "Oxford";^[10] however, the name "Oxford Rooley Road" is shown in Bradshaw timetables of June 1869 and September 1885, whilst those of July 1906, June 1920 and January 1944 show "Oxford Rewley Road".^[11]

Plans to construct new premises for theSaïd Business School of theUniversity of Oxford led to dismantling of the station building in 1999 with the financial support of the University. Official consent to this without apublic inquiry, together with associated road works and the cutting down of trees on the perimeter of the site, made the decision controversial and led to the building being occupied for six months culminating in a long and expensive eviction.^[12] The building's occupiers were supported by many local politicians and put forward alternative proposals for the junction design and alternative uses for the building, including an art gallery and tourist centre. Part of the controversy surrounding the building of the new business school involved the project's funding coming fromWafic Saïd. The Business School opened in 2001 and the site of the station was subsequently marked by acommemorative plaque. Parts of the goods yard were developed for housing.

The station building components were moved to theBuckinghamshire Railway Centre atQuainton Road railway station where they were refurbished and re-erected, with support from theHeritage Lottery Fund, as a visitor centre and display building, formally opened in 2002, so that Rewley Road station once again houses railwaytrains.

v t e Railways around Oxford
Legend
toBanbury toWorcester toBicester toWitney andFairford Oxford Parkway Yarnton Oxford Road Halt Yarnton Loop City boundary Wolvercot Junction Wolvercot Platform Wolvercote Halt Oxford North Junction Port Meadow Halt Exchange sidings Sheepwash Channel Rewley Road Swing Bridge Oxford Oxford Rewley Road Osney Rail Bridge Gasworks Bridge Oxford Gas Works River Isis City boundary Oxford (Grandpont) Goods Hinksey Halt Millstream Junction Abingdon Road Halt Kennington Junction Radley Iffley Halt toDidcot Kennington Railway Bridge Littlemore Morris Cowley BMW Mini terminal Horspath Halt toPrinces Risborough

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995).The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.).Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd.ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7.OCLC 60251199.OL 11956311M.
• Copsey, John (2004). "Oxford Rewley Road into the Twenties".British Railway Journal.8 (72):266–285,294–295.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (July 2005).Oxford to Bletchley. Country Railway Routes. Middleton Press.ISBN 1-904474-57-8.
• Simpson, Bill (1981).Oxford to Cambridge Railway, vol. 1. Oxford Publishing Co.ISBN 0-86093-120-X.
• Turner, Chris (2004). "Oxford Rewley Road — Operation in the 1940s".British Railway Journal.8 (73):310–330.
• Waters, Laurence (1986).Rail centres: Oxford. Ian Allan.ISBN 0-7110-1590-2.
• Waters, Laurence (April 2003). "The L&NWR and LMS in Oxford".Steam Days (164):247–255.

• OMRC — Rewley Road model of the station,Oxford & District Model Railway Club

• Buildings and structures in Oxford
• Transport in Oxford
• Disused railway stations in Oxfordshire
• Former London and North Western Railway stations
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1851
• Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1951
• Grade II* listed railway stations
• 1851 establishments in England

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from December 2016
• Use British English from December 2016
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Articles with OS grid coordinates
• Pages with no open date in Infobox station
• Pages using the Kartographer extension