Written by Didcot historian Eugene Coyle.

FEW of the thousands of passengers who pass through Didcot Parkway realise that it was never intended as a site for a railway junction.

In the mid-1830s The Great Western Railway founded by Isambard Brunel proposed to build a railway line between London and Bristol.

By June 1840, the line was completed as far as Steventon with a halt at Didcot – then a village of less than 100 inhabitants.

The plan was to continue onto Swindon and open a branch line to Oxford at Steventon through Abingdon which would open up the Midlands and the North.

However, the Oxford colleges and local landowners refused passage to Abingdon and onwards to Oxford.

Undefeated, after three years Brunel proposed a new junction at Didcot Halt bypassing Abingdon.

Parliament agreed in 1843 and the new line was completed in seven months.

Two new stations were opened on the same day by Brunel, one at Grandpont near Folly Bridge in Oxford and the other at Didcot.

Didcot was the larger station, built entirely of wood with five narrow platforms and four lines. It was destroyed by fire in 1885 and completely rebuilt.

In 1846 Brunel drew up plans for a housing estate in Didcot for the GWR workers.

However, the GWR failed to obtain sufficient land for housing westward towards old Didcot village due to opposition from landowners.

Brunel decided to develop Swindon New Town instead and his house plans for New Didcot were set aside for the next 50 years.

The GWR did acquire a small amount of land close to the Didcot Station.

The most important part of the property was a dirt track that became known as Station Hill.

In 1844 and for the next few decades Station Hill served as a link from the newly built Didcot Junction to Wallingford Road (Broadway) to allow road access to its station.

Between 1904 and 1912 the company decided to build houses for their workers on Station Hill, later Station Road.

Thirty-two of these houses based on the original plans of Brunel were completed by 1911.

There were four terraces each with six four-roomed houses, one terrace of four six-roomed and four large detached houses.

Houses were to be allocated according to the ranking and seniority of the staff in the GWR at Didcot.

In the early 20th century the houses on Station Road were considered luxurious, with gas, hot and cold water and in the detached houses electricity, all supplied by the station.

In 2003 South Oxfordshire District Council declared Station Road in Didcot a Conservation Area of '...special architectural and historic interest, possessing character and appearance that is desirable to preserve and enhance'.

A specially commissioned limited-edition book The Story of Station Road, Didcot was written by Eugene Coyle and presented to Mr Richard Peacock, chief executive of Soha Housing, Didcot on his recent retirement. The book will be shortly available at Didcot Library, Oxford History Centre and Oxfordshire Central Library.