Lying in the parish of Old Cleeve, Washford
is best known for ancient Cleeve Abbey with
it's remarkably intact monks' living quarters. The railway station is
now home to the Somerset
and Dorset Railway Museum and there is a good walk along the old
Mineral Line to Watchet.
St Mary's Church, Washford
The most well known feature of Wash
ford is Cleeve Abbey, a relic of the days before King Henry VIII's infamous antics. Situated on the lane to Roadwater and Torre, the site is run by English Heritage and is open on most days.
Washford once boasted two railway stations, one on the West Somerset Railway which remains today, and one on the earlier West Somerset
Mineral Railway, which ran from the iron mines high up on the Brendon Hills to the harbour at Watchet, but which finally closed just before the First World War after a couple of closures and reopenings.
The old trackbed, now a pleasant footpath, runs alongside the West Somerset Railway all the way to Watchet and is a great
way to get away from it all.
Alongside the station is the Washford Inn, where visitors can enjoy a drink and a meal or even bed and breakfast.
Washford Railway Statuion home of the Somerset and Dorset Railway Museum
Washford is on the main A39 between Williton and Minehead. It has a station on the West Somerset Railway which houses an interesting railway museum.
Washford railway station, on the A390 between Watchet and Minehead, is the headquarters of the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust. Here you can admire gleaming steam locomotives, enjoy the S&DRT's fine museum, and chat to people who are restoring these splendid and beautiful machines.
Washford Mill was originally a grain mill but has now been converted into a craft and retail centre with a cafe.
Nearby is Cleeve Abbey.
Torre Cider is made at Washford.
Washford Station is situated at the second highest summit of the line between Watchet and Blue Anchor, at a point where road and rail take advantage of a gap in the hills that stretch from the coastal cliffs to the Brendon Hills inland.
The climb to Washford in either direction is fairly stiff for steam locomotives - coming up from Blue Anchor there is a one-mile section at 1 in 65, the steepest on the line.
The station building is the original, built when the line opened in 1874.
Next to the main building is a small wooden structure - this was the signal box and now houses a lever frame forming
The trust took over the then derelict site in 1976 and has transformed the area into one of the best railway museums in the land.
There are any number of artefacts, mostly saved from the old Somerset and Dorset Railway, nearly all restored in pristine condition. |
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