Barcombe Mills railway station

Infobox UK disused station
name = Barcombe Mills
gridref = TQ429149


caption =
manager = London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
owner = Southern Railway
Southern Region of British Railways
locale = Barcombe
borough = Lewes, East Sussex
platforms = 2
years = 18 October 1858
events = Opened as "Barcombe"
years1 = 1 January 1885
events1 = Renamed (Barcombe Mills)
years2 = 4 May 1969
events2 = Closed

Barcombe Mills is a disused railway station 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-war bank holidays as many as 1000 tickets were sold in one day. [ [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/b/barcombe_mills/index.shtml Subterranea Britannica, "Barcombe Mills".] ]

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 entact 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 is now open to the public as a tea-room, with 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. [Daily Mirror, "Keep on trackin'", 12 April 2004.] In April 2003 two chalet-style holiday cottages were opened, resulting in the demolition of the wooden down platform waiting room.

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, " [i] f 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." [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/6753271.stm BBC News, "'Fresh hope' of railway reopening", 14 June 2007.] ]

References