'Verney Junction' is a
hamlet in the
parish of
Middle Claydon in north
Buckinghamshire,
England. It is on the railway line near Claydon House.
The stone cottages that make up the hamlet were largely constructed to provide houses for workers for the railway in the early
Victorian era. The hamlet is named after Lord Verney of Claydon House. A railway line once ran from this point, through
Buckingham and
Brackley, to
Banbury.
Until 1936 Verney Junction station was the northern outpost of the
Metropolitan Railway from
Baker Street. It was the junction of that line with the "
Varsity Line" from
Oxford to
Cambridge, and legend has it that it was so called because the then isolation of the area meant that the only obvious name was that of the local landowner.
The
permanent way from
Quainton Road to here has been closed and lifted and although one single track of the
Varsity Line remains, this is rusted and overgrown far beyond use (even so, there are modern signs in place about watching out for trains before crossing the line).
Of the station itself, the building remains (it is now a private house) as do the platforms (though these are in a very poor state). The trackbed that would have served the
Metropolitan Railway is now taken up with the house's garden.
The station is considered among one of
London's
disused underground stations, though it is a long way from London itself and is not underground.
External links
★
Verney Junction seen in passing from the last passenger train to traverse the line in 1993
★
A later view of Verney Junction taken in 1997