Barcombe Mills railway station

Barcombe Mills

Barcombe Mills railway station in 1961
Location
Place Barcombe
Area Lewes, East Sussex
Grid reference TQ429149
Operations
Original company Lewes and Uckfield Railway[1]
Pre-grouping London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
Post-grouping Southern Railway
Southern Region of British Railways
Platforms 2
History
18 October 1858 Opened as "Barcombe"
1 January 1885 Renamed (Barcombe Mills)
23 February 1969 last train ran
4 May 1969 Officially Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain
A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Barcombe Mills is a disused railway station in the hamlet of Barcombe Mills, on the closed section of the Wealden Line. The station was opened in 1858 and closed in 1969.

History

The station opened as "Barcombe" but was renamed "Barcombe Mills" in 1885 so as to avoid confusion with Barcombe station on the Lewes to East Grinstead line. Despite its name, the station is actually situated almost a mile to the south-east of Barcombe village.

It was always a popular station for anglers who were able to fish for trout in the nearby River Ouse. On pre-World War II bank holidays as many as 1000 tickets were sold in one day.[2] The station was listed for closure under the Beeching report but closure was delayed pending the outcome of an enquiry. The last train ran on 23 February 1969 due to the condition of a bridge near Lewes but a bus service serving the stations until the official closure date.

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Isfield
Line and station closed
  British Rail Southern Region
Wealden Line
  Lewes
Line closed, station open
  Proposed Heritage railways
Isfield
Line and station closed
  Lavender Line   Terminus

Present day

It was not until 1985, the year in which the station was purchased by Allan Slater, that preservation and conversion work on the virtually intact structure began in earnest. Many original Victorian features have been retained, including the scalloped woodwork along the rooftops and arched brickwork around the windows which bear testament to the early days of rail travel. The station was used as a tea-room/restaurant called Wheeltappers. The former ticket office and ladies' waiting room serving as a restaurant and the gentlemen's washrooms as kitchen facilities. The adjoining stationmaster's small one-bedroom house has been converted into a four-bedroom family home, and the trackbed has been filled-in and landscaped.[3] In April 2003 two chalet-style holiday cottages were opened, resulting in the demolition of the wooden down platform waiting room. The chalets were built in a rebuilt down waiting room in the original style.

The Wealden Line Campaign has lobbied strongly for the reinstatement of the line between Lewes and Uckfield, including the section through Barcombe Mills and a feasibility study is being carried out to determine the merits of this scheme. Addressing the possibility of the return of his land to railway use, Allan Slater, still the owner of the station, has said that, "If there is genuinely a need for the railway to come through here I don't think I am in a position to stand in their way."[4]

Gallery

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Barcombe Mills railway station.

Coordinates: 50°54′57″N 0°01′53″E / 50.91588°N 0.03148°E / 50.91588; 0.03148

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.