Sedgeford railway station

Infobox UK disused station
name = Sedgeford
gridref = TF712375


caption = Main station building converted into a residence.
manager = West Norfolk Junction Railway
Lynn and Hunstanton Railway
Great Eastern Railway
owner = London and North Eastern Railway
Eastern Region of British Railways
locale = Sedgeford
borough = King's Lynn and West Norfolk, Norfolk
platforms = 1
years = 17 August 1866
events = Opened
years2 = 2 June 1952
events2 = Closed [Butt, R.V.J. (1995). "The Directory of Railway Stations", Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford, ISBN 1-85260-508-1, p. 208.]

Sedgeford was a railway station which served the settlement of Sedgeford in Norfolk, England. Opened by the West Norfolk Junction railway in 1866, it closed with the line in 1952. [Cite book | author=Oppitz, Leslie | authorlink= | coauthors= | title=Lost Railways of East Anglia (Lost Railways) | date=1999 | publisher=Countryside Books | location=Newbury, Berkshire | isbn=1-85306-595-1 | pages=p. 16-17]

History

The construction of the West Norfolk Junction Railway was prompted by the success of the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway which had opened in 1862 to link King's Lynn with the seaside town of Hunstanton. The West Norfolk opened in 1866 at the start of a major financial crisis triggered by the collapse of Overend Gurney Bank; the year also saw the outbreak of a "cattle plague" in North Norfolk which impacted on the cattle receipts on the line. [Cite book | author=Jenkins, S.C. | authorlink= | coauthors= | title=The Lynn & Hunstanton Railway and the West Norfolk Branch | date=1987 | publisher=Oakwood Press | location=Headington, Oxford | isbn=0-85361-330-3 | pages=p. 34-35] The West Norfolk was absorbed into the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway in 1872 which in turn was acquired by the Great Eastern Railway in 1890. The line eventually closed to passengers in 1952, a consequence of rising costs and falling passenger numbers, aggravated by the inconvenient siting of stations; its full closure the following year was brought on by the North Sea flood of 1953 which badly damaged the section between Holkham and Wells, damage which British Rail judged not worth repairing. [Jenkins, S.C., op. cit. p. 113.] Up to the end of its existence, the line was one of the last where one could travel in gas-lit cleristory coaches hauled by Victorian locomotives. [Cite book | author=Joby, R.S. | authorlink= | coauthors= | title=Forgotten Railways: Vol. 7 East Anglia | date=1985 | publisher=David & Charles | location=Newton Abbott, Devon | isbn=0-946537-25-9 | pages=p. 47]

Sedgeford station was the first station after Heacham on the single-track West Norfolk Junction Railway. It was a small station located in a rural area, equipped with a single platform on the down side, built to smaller dimensions to other stations on the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway, and without a stationmaster's residence. Very basic goods facilities were provided in the shape of a single carriage siding on the down side. The station's staff amounted to two persons, reduced to one in the final years. Traffic on the line was largely agricultural, consisting of corn, sugar beet, cattle and agricultural machinery. A level crossing lay to the east of the platform. [Jenkins, S.C., op. cit. p. 99.]

Present day

The station buildings have been particularly well preserved as a private residence, complete with the station sign and Great Eastern Railway notices. The level crossing gate remains with a notice reading "Failure to shut the gate - fine 40/-". [Oppitz, L., op. cit. p. 17.]

See also

* List of closed railway stations in Norfolk

References