All of the Junction's railway lines had closed by 1973, with the Mid-Hants Railway subsequently reopening as a
heritage railway known as the
Watercress Line in 1977.[4] The location of Butts Junction can still be seen from trains on the Watercress Line, with an embankment tailing off in a different direction.
Location
Butts Junction was located at
grid referenceSU711384[5] in an area southwest of Alton town centre[6] known as The Butts, from which the junction takes its name. The Butts is a triangle of open land which in medieval times was used for archery practice,[7] leading to its name in reference to the
archery butts formerly located at the site.[8][9] Butts Junction was just 20
chains (0.25 miles, 0.40 km) from the former
Treloar's Hospital Platform railway station,[10][11] and 1.05 miles (1.69 km) to
Alton railway station[12] located northeast of the junction. The railway crosses Butts Road at the junction over a bridge which was replaced with the opening of the line to Basingstoke.[13]
The junction was home to an
LSWR type 4
signal box which was built on the site in June 1903.[14]
References
^Dean, Martin; Robertson, Kevin; Simmonds, Roger (2003). The Basingstoke & Alton Light Railway. Southampton: Barton. pp. 9 & 10.
ISBN0-9545617-0-8.
OCLC53030800.
^Patmore, John (1982). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Southern England.
^Course, Edwin (1976). The Railways of Southern England. Batsford.
ISBN0713431962.