Barham railway station

Disused railway station in Barham, Kent

51°12′14″N 1°09′17″E / 51.2038°N 1.1548°E / 51.2038; 1.1548Grid referenceTR 204 496Platforms2Other informationStatusDisusedHistoryPre-groupingSouth Eastern Railway
South Eastern and Chatham RailwayPost-groupingSouthern RailwayKey dates4 July 1887Opened1 December 1940Closed to passengers1 October 1947Closed to freight

Barham was a station on the Elham Valley Railway. It opened in 1887 and closed to passengers in 1940 and freight in 1947.

History

The station opened on 4 July 1887 with the opening of the Elham Valley Railway from Cheriton Junction, on the South Eastern Main Line as far as Barham.[1] An 18-lever signal box was provided. A public siding was located at Wingmore, 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Barham.[2] Initially, there were six passenger trains per day. By 1906 there were nine trains a day, with five on Sunday. This had reduced to six trains a day by 1922.[3] The double track between Lyminge and Harbledown Junction was reduced to single track from 25 October 1931 and the signal boxes between those points were abolished.[4] Services had been reduced to five trains a day by 1937.[3]

Barham Signal Box, as preserved at the East Kent Railway.

Passenger services between Canterbury West and Lyminge were withdrawn on 1 December 1940 and the line was placed under military control.[1] On 31 October 1941, a fireman was killed on the footplate near Barham during an air raid.[5] The station remained open to freight during the war. Military control was relinquished on 19 February 1945. The Elham Valley Railway closed on 1 October 1947.[6] The station building at Barham was demolished in November 1963.[5] Barham Signal Box is preserved at Shepherdswell, on the East Kent Railway.[7]


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Bishopsbourne   Southern Railway
Elham Valley Railway 		  Elham

References

Citations
  1. ^ a b Mitchell & Smith 1995, Historical Background.
  2. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1995, Barham.
  3. ^ a b Mitchell & Smith 1995, Passenger Services.
  4. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1995, Illustration 104.
  5. ^ a b Mitchell & Smith 1995, Illustration 111.
  6. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1995, Historical background.
  7. ^ "About East Kent Railway". East Kent Railway Trust. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
Sources
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1995). Branch Lines Around Canterbury. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-873793-58-8.
  • v
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Closed railway stations in Kent
Canterbury and Whitstable RailwayElham Valley RailwayHawkhurst branch lineHundred of Hoo RailwayKent and East Sussex RailwaySheppey Light RailwayEast Kent Light RailwayWesterham Valley branch lineGravesend West LineSandgate Branch
South Eastern Main LineDover areaMarshlink line
Dungeness branchesRomney, Hythe and Dymchurch RailwaySER & LCDR merger remodellingOther lines
Ashford to Ramsgate
via Canterbury West
Chatham Main Line
Kent Coast line
Maidstone East line
Medway Valley line
Sheerness line

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