Long Gone!

Sturminster Newton station was opened on 31 August 1863 by the London and South Western Railway as part of the Dorset Central Railway. The station had two platforms with shelters, and a small goods yard. The station was transferred to the Southern Railway in 1923, becoming part of the Southern Region of British Railways when the railways were nationalised in 1948. The goods yard gave milk trains access to the private sidings of the local creamery. Started in 1913 by local farmers to produce cheddar cheese and pasteurized milk, it was taken over by the Milk Marketing Board in 1937. Milk trains ceased in 1966 on closure of the line, with the creamery remaining in operation until 2000. The station was closed when the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway closed on 6 March 1966. Today the site is a small park with commemorative gates and this small plaque.