Iron Acton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Part of Iron Acton, looking west down the High street, from the tower of the village church (St. James the Less)

The village church, St James the Less

Iron Acton Primary School (above the orange wires), seen from the tower of the church

Iron Acton is a small village near Yate, South Gloucestershire, England, bypassed by the Yate to Frampton Cotterell road.

The 'iron' part of the name originates from the mining of iron that used to take place near the village, whilst 'acton' means "town with many oak trees"; and still today there is an oak wood within the village alongside the River Frome.

Nearby is Acton Court on Latteridge Lane, a restored Tudor house. In the 16th century, Nicholas Poyntz added the East Wing onto the existing moated manor house. The addition was lavishly decorated to impress Henry VIII. The king and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, visited the house in 1535, during a tour of the West Country.

[edit] Railway Station

The remains of Iron Acton railway station are located in the south west of Iron Acton. The station opened in 1872, with the start of services on the Midland Railway branch from Yate to Thornbury. It closed in 1944. The station was demolished in the 1960s.

The station served Iron Acton village and consisted of a single platform and a large wooden station building. A freight-only branch serving an iron mine in Frampton Cotterell connected at the station. This closed in 1872 and a truncated section of this route served as a coal depot until closure on 10 June 1963.

The remains of the platform survive, as does a crossing-keeper's cottage to the south of the station site.