Stogumber station lies tucked into the side of a hill just over a mile from the village and is reached via a sloping approach road. This leads to a small car park and the stone station building, where passengers can buy their tickets. Refreshments are available, including the cream teas for which Stogumber station has become famous. There are wheelchair-accessible toilets. Don’t miss the model railway in the waiting room – it is based on Stogumber and was featured in the Summer 2016 edition of ‘Model Rail’ magazine.
Station Facilities
The single platform is reached by a foot-crossing over the railway, so look carefully before crossing. It can be used by wheelchairs, but please ask at the station so that we can make special arrangements for you. Beyond the station building is a garden in the former goods yard with woodland behind. This a wonderful place to picnic, or enjoy a cream tea, while watching the trains pass and looking at the local birds and butterflies. The former cattle dock beside the car park has been restored, complete with its iron railings and now provides a viewing gallery. Reached by a ramp, it is available to wheelchair-users.
Stogumber village is an uphill walk of about 25 minutes from the station. Picturesquely set between the Quantock and Brendon Hills, it has a pub, shop and Post Office.
History of Stogumber Station
Opened in 1862 with the railway to Watchet, the hillside location of the station led to the unusual layout with a ground-level building on the opposite side of the track from a short wooden platform. Originally there was no shelter, but a wooden one was provided in 1868 and the platform was extended in 1893. The goods shed was accessed via a loop from which a short siding served a cattle dock for loading livestock. There was a stone goods office beside it. A signal box was added next to the platform shelter in the 1880s but closed in 1926 and was replaced by ground frames at each end of the loop. From the 1930s until the 1960s the siding was used to hold a Camping Coach each summer, for which the water supply was a tank wagon, replenished weekly. Goods traffic ceased in 1963 and the goods shed and office were demolished. The platform that exists today is made of concrete and the wooden shelter is a replica of the original.
Today the station is run by a group of volunteers, the Friends of Stogumber Station. More information is available here
ADDRESS
West Somerset Railway,The Railway Station,
Minehead Somerset,
TA24 5BG
TELEPHONE
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