Baynards railway station

Infobox UK disused station
name = Baynards
gridref = TQ077351


caption =
manager = London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
owner = Southern Railway
Southern Region of British Railways
locale = Baynards
borough = Waverley, Surrey
platforms = 2
years = 2 October 1865
events = Station opened
years2 = 14 June 1965
events2 = Station closed

Baynards was a railway station on the Cranleigh Line. The line was single-tracked and opened on 2 October 1865.

The station comprises the stationmaster's house, two waiting rooms, covered platforms, storesheds, a booking hall, a porch and a large goods shed. The station covers in all 0.45 acres. Its construction is owed to Lord Thurlow, the owner of nearby Baynards Park, whose land was on the route of the proposed railway line. As a condition of sale, Lord Thurlow insisted on having a station built to serve his estate, despite there being no nearby settlement. The station was also used as the local post office in times when up to 30 horses and carts would queue outside on market days.

Near the station was the Baynards Brick and Tile Works which was served by its own private siding. In early years it was a brickworks, producing fullers earth for the wool industry, and then foundry clay in later years. It then became a chemical processing works, receiving annually 400 tons of goods by rail (including sulfur from Italy via the Thames docks, tin from Swansea and packaging from Sittingbourne), whilst also sending out its own goods, from seed dressings to polishing compounds.

In February 1957 the BBC filmed a version of The Railway Children here. The Stationmaster during this period, Geoff Birdfield, won a prize for the best display of dahlias on the railway line; he had around 1000 dahlias of 240 different varieties which were grown behind the platforms. After closure of the line in 1965, Birdfield erected a 52 x 12 ft glasshouse on one platform and cold frame on the trackbed. He remained at Baynards until 1970 and finally retired as a relief signalman in 1980, having spent 44 years working for the railway.

The station building was auctioned on 21 June 1973 at Bramley Grange Hotel where it was purchased by its current owners who have carefully restored it to its original condition. Every year the Rudgwick Preservation Society organises a guided walk to the station where the owners give a tour, attracting up to 150 people.

Stations on line

* Guildford
* Bramley & Wonersh
* Cranleigh
* Rudgwick
* Slinfold
* Christ's Hospital
* Horsham

External links

* [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/b/baynards/index.shtml Baynards railway station] at Disused-Stations.org.uk
* [http://www.cranleighrailway.info/ "Cranleigh Line" website]
* [http://www.npemap.org.uk/tiles/map.html#507,135,1 Baynards station on navigable 1946 O. S. map]

References