Castle Cary

The Station

The station forms the junction where for a distance the Heart of Wessex Line joins the line from Taunton to Reading and London Paddington and is where many passengers make a connection.

Primary access to Castle Cary Station is from the A371. There is level access to Platform 1 but Platforms 2 and 3 are accessible only by the footbridge. Direct access to and from Ansford to all platforms is only by way of the footbridge.

There is a pedestrian path from the station through Ansford to Castle Cary town.

Once every two years or so, Castle Cary becomes a major station as it is where festivalgoers alight for the Glastonbury Festival, joining a fleet of shuttle buses at the Station for the short onward journey to the Festival site at Worthy Farm, Pilton

Adjacent to the Station is a former cheese factory building which Emily Estates, proprietors of the Newt Hotel and Gardens are renovating to create installed a café and visitor centre.

Castle Cary Station serves the communities of Castle Cary and Ansford.

Members of the Castle Cary community have way-marked a walking route of just under a mile from the station to the town, starting at the bottom of the footbridge steps from Platforms 2 and 3 and passing via Ansford through pretty lanes and green spaces to the centre of Castle Cary down Florida Street just by the Round House . The route goes via St Andrew’s Church at Ansford, where Parson James Woodforde, the famous diarist of rural life, once preached. The Old Parsonage where he was born is close by.

The Surrounding Area

Castle Cary is a pretty market town which has many places to shop, eat and drink.

The centrepiece of the town is the Market House, built in the 19th Century, which houses the Castle Cary and District Museum.

The Market House is also the centre of the Tuesday Market, held every Tuesday of the year, featuring both produce and craft stalls.

Behind the Market House is the Round House Lock Up, constructed in 1779 one of only four such buildings in the country

For long distance walkers, the Macmillan Way, the Monarch’s Way and the Leyland Trail all pass through the town, this is also a great starting point for walking into beautiful countryside.

Perhaps the town’s most prominent local son was Douglas Macmillan MBE, the founder of what is now the major national charity Macmillan Cancer Support. He was born in Castle Cary in 1884 and died in Ansford in 1969.

Ansford is a growing village community which is actually nearer to the station than Castle Cary itself.

Adjacent to the village is the Newt, a Hotel and Garden complex built by Emily Estates centred on the Grade II* listed Hadspen House. The House was built gradually into its current form over the course of the 18th Century as the home of the Hobhouse family from Bristol, who had made their fortune as merchants in the slave, sugar and tobacco trades.