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'''Buildwas station''' was situated 28½ miles from [[Hartlebury]] and 12¼ miles from [[Shrewsbury]]. It served both the Severn Valley Branch and the [[Wellington to Craven Arms Railway]], although it was an interchange station in open countryside with little passenger access except by rail.<ref name=Vanns30>[[Bibliography#Books|Vanns (1998)]] p. 30.</ref><ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Mitchell and Smith (2007)]] fig. 101.</ref><ref group="note">Vanns states that the station had "no passenger access other than by train". Illustrations in Mitchell and Smith refer to the "Station approach road"; Fig 101 notes that "the road in the foreground ran to the village."</ref> The station building was of a similar design to that at [[Bewdley]].
West of Buildwas the Severn Valley line left the [[Severn Valley|Severn Valley gorge ]] and entered the flatter flood plain area leading towards [[Shrewsbury]].
==History==
Prior to the opening of both railways, the Board of Trade inspector Colonel Yolland published a report on 30 December 1861 listing matters which required attention before he could recommend opening for public traffic. He noted that the turntable at Buildwas was not yet complete. He also suggested changes to the layout at Buildwas due to the gradients on the Much Wenlock line as it approached the station; these included doubling a short length of the Severn Valley line and making a double junction with a safety siding. He carried out a further inspection on 15 January 1862, during which he noted that the improvements at Buildwas were being undertaken, including completion of a second platform on the Severn Valley line. His report on 23 January 1862 recommended that the Board of Trade should sanction opening. Both railways opened on 1 February 1862.<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Marshall (1989)]] pp. 48-49.</ref>
The Much Wenlock, Craven Arms and Coalbrookdale Railway, usually termed the '''Wenlock Railway''', was incorporated on 22 July 1861. It completed the section of the Wellington to Craven Arms Railway northwards between Buildwas and Coalbrookdale via [[Albert Edward Bridge ]] which opened on 1 November 1864 as part of the [[Wellington to Craven Arms Railway]].
On 10 May 1899 the GWR traffic committee agreed to provide a [[Private sidings connected to the Severn Valley Railway|siding ]] to serve Mr Griffith's sand fields at an estimated cost to him of £138.<ref name=Marshall111>[[Bibliography#Books|Marshall (1989)]] p. 111.</ref>
The OS Map below shows the layout at Buildwas as surveyed in 1901. The Severn Valley Branch (labelled) runs from north-west to south east passing to the north of the station building, while the line from Much Wenlock enters from the south-west and passes south of the station building. This branch provided access to a marshalling yard and the turntable whose location can be seen. A short siding continued to a GWR pumping station on the banks of the [[River Severn]]. The through route from the Much Wenlock line towards [[Coalbrookdale]], which opened in 1864 and was double track, continues via Albert Edward Bridge. The station approach road, which also served Abbeygrange Farm, ran parallel with the Severn Valley Branch as far as the Buildwas to Much Wenlock Road (now the A4169), which the Branch crossed via a level crossing controlled by a ground frame.<ref name=Vanns30/>
All these features were present on the earlier OS map surveyed in 1881 apart from the southernmost siding which the map shows was accessed by a reversal from the pumping station siding; this is presumably Mr GriffithsGriffith' s siding of 1899.
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