Barrow Hill railway station

Infobox UK disused station
name = Barrow Hill


caption =
gridref =
line = North Midland Railway
manager = Midland Railway
owner = LMS
British Railways
locale = Staveley
borough = Derbyshire
platforms =
years1 = 1841
events1 = Opened
years2 = 1900
events2 = Renamed Barrow Hill and Staveley Works
years3 = 1951
events3 = Renamed Barrow Hill
years4 = 1954
events4 = Closed Barrow Hill railway station was originally opened as Staveley in 1841, a year after the opening of the North Midland Railway to serve Staveley, Derbyshire.

Allen's guide of 1842 writes of "Staveley upon the hill to the left ; Mr. Barrow's iron-works in the valley." [Allen, R. (1842), "The North Midland Railway Guide," Nottingham: R. Allen Republished 1973, Leeds: Turntable Enterprises]

It was on what became known as the "Old Road" between Chesterfield and Masborough.

It was in an area of rapidly expanding industrialisation. Iron working had been carried on for many centuries and Staveley works itself had been opened in 1702. The land originally had been owned by the Duke of Devonshire but the copyhold had been bought by Richard Barrow in 1840. Whites Gazetteer, in 1857, records "Staveley Works, 1 mile E. from Staveley, is an ancient iron smelting establishment; there are documents in existence proving it to have been a place of considerable importance centuries ago, but its early history will not bear any comparison with the vastness of operations in the present day. Here are the collieries and extensive ironworks of Richard Barrow, Esq., with blast furnaces, producing 200 tons of metal weekly. Castings and foundry work of all kinds are executed at this extensive establishment. Neat residences for the clerks and overlookers have been built in the vicinity, besides a great number of cottages." [Whites " Gazeteer, History and Directory of Derbyshire 1857"]

Local ore had been worked out by 1870, but the works continued to expand, bringing increasing work for the railway. The station was moved and rebuilt in 1888 in a new position when the Clowne branch was opened.

There were three platforms, two on the main line and one for the branch, with typical Midland buildings, some in brick others of timber.

In 1870, a large locomotive shed was opened, known as Staveley(Barrow Hill) Depot, coded 18D by the LMS and renumbered 41E in 1958. It included a 24 road roundhouse. It closed in 1991, but has been preserved and reopened in 1998 as Barrow Hill Roundhouse & Railway Centre.

In 1900 the station was renamed Barrow Hill and Staveley Works, becoming Barrow Hill three years before it closed in 1954. [Pixton, B., (2000) "North Midland: Portrait of a Famous Route," Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing] .

The line is now part of the current Midland Main Line.

References