thrived as a stopping place for stagecoaches, in particular The Redesdale Arms and The White Hart Royal". The Stratford and Moreton Tramway was built between 1821 and 1826, linking Moreton with the Stratford-on-Avon Canal at Stratford. It was horse-drawn until 1859, when the section between Moreton and Shipston-on-Stour was converted to a branch line railway operated with steam locomotives. The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway, built between 1845 and 1851, passes through Moreton. The railway station was opened in 1853. The Great Western Railway (GWR) took over the OW&W Railway in 1862 and the Shipston-on-Stour branch in 1868. The GWR withdrew passenger trains from the branch in 1929 and British Railways withdrew freight traffic and the last train, Driver Ted Hardiman, Fireman Ken Hughes and Guard Perry, and one paying passenger, Christopher Horne, ran on 2 May 1960. The OW&W Railway is now part of the Cotswold line. The line between Oxford (Wolverton Junction) and Worcester (Norton Junction) was singled, except for the distance between Shipton-under-Wychwood to Moreton-in-Marsh, in the 1970s, but subsequently the double track has been replaced, except between Evesham and Worcester (Norton Junction) in 2011. Traffic to and from Long Marston uses the west end of the line and freight services are planned to re-use this route. In 2019 the platforms were lengthened after the removal of all sidings from the station area. Redesdale Hall, which was designed by the architects, Sir Ernest George and Harold Peto, became the market hall and town hall for the town and was completed in 1887. The town was often misdescribed as "Moreton-in-the-Marsh" into the early 20th century. The name was confirmed as "Moreton-in-Marsh" before 1930. In 1940, a large area of level land east of the town was developed as RAF Moreton-in-Marsh and used as a training airfield, largely by Wellington bombers. 38 men flying to or from RAF Moreton-in-Marsh lost their lives during the Second World War. The former airfield is now the Fire Service College where senior fire officers from brigades all over the UK undergo operational, management and leadership training. The same complex is also now the headquarters of the Institution of Fire Engineers, the professional body for fire fighters, officers and civilians with an interest in fire engineering. Moreton-in-Marsh and Batsford War Memorial is in the High Street and commemorates the dead of the First and Second World Wars, together with one serviceman killed subsequently. One