The London & Birmingham Railway Company founded Wolverton on a green-field site in 1838. The Company needed a "grand central station and locomotive repair depot" on a half way location between the two cities. The small locomotives (and the passengers) needed this break mid journey. The location had the added benefit of being sited on The Grand Junction Canal. This greatly assisted the free movement of goods. The station included a wharf area. The settlement was originally called "WOLVERTON STATION" which has a certain irony in present day circumstances!

The attractive Victorian station that many residents remember so fondly was actually the third station built. The original London & Birmingham Railway Company station was located near Wolverton Park Recreation Ground. The impressive stone remains can still be seen there. The second station was a very grand affair. This was geared up to catering for the large numbers of passengers who required refreshments mid journey. Wolverton Refreshment Rooms were famous. Some stone work remains and a small goods building can still be seen in the McConnell Drive area.The third station was moved to the present location when the line was quadrupled and there was no room to expand the section through the works. The line was diverted to the present configuration.

The station was an attractive timber and red brick construction built on brick piers so that the station entrance was at the top of the hill. It was built in 1882 to typical London & North Western Railway Company design. Many residents will remember the pleasant ticket office with the well polished woodwork.

In 1988 the local residents celebrated the 150 years of the railway town of Wolverton. The station was painted up and decorated with hanging baskets. Shortly after this, the Station was totally demolished overnight. The local residents were extremely upset and many people say they still bitterly regret the loss of this distinctive local landmark.

A couple of years ago we heard that some salvaged Wolverton station columns were serving a new role as lighting columns behind Stony Stratford Arcade. We felt that if there were any more available that they would make an interesting town feature. There were three not being used. The owners Mr. And Mrs. Willis agreed to sell these for the same scrap price of £75 each that they had paid for them. This was a very generous offer as Victorian cast iron work of this standard is very desirable in the architectural salvage market nowadays. Wolverton & Greenleys Town Council awarded us a purchase grant.

Jewsons of Old Wolverton very kindly agreed to move the columns from Stony Stratford to Railcare (Wolverton Works). BBC 3 Counties Radio covered "moving day" on their local news bulletins throughout the day with a follow up interview on John Pilgrim's afternoon show.

Railcare shot blasted and primed the columns so that they would be ready for the next stage of the project. We are very grateful that they donated this to the project. They look very much better after Railcare's tender, loving care treatment!

Jewsons were very supportive again and moved the columns from Railcare to Milton Keynes Museum for temporary storage. We really appreciate Jewsons donating their time and expertise on both occasions. Moving the columns could have been a real problem if we did not have such a helpful local company.

Shortly after buying the columns, we came across an article about HRH the Prince of Wales' garden at Highgrove. He has a column from Victoria station as a garden feature, topped with a sculpture of a stork. This provided the inspiration to top one of our columns with a phoenix sculpture as a symbol of the Town's regeneration.

CLICK HERE for details about the "Regeneration Bird" and pictures of this very impressive sculpture.