Barham railway station

Barham
Photograph of the remains of Barham station
Remains of Barham station, 16 April 1963
General information
LocationBarham, Kent
England
Coordinates51°12′14″N 1°09′17″E / 51.2038°N 1.1548°E / 51.2038; 1.1548
Grid referenceTR 204 496
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Pre-groupingSouth Eastern Railway
South Eastern and Chatham Railway
Post-groupingSouthern Railway
Key dates
4 July 1887Opened
1 December 1940Closed to passengers
1 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Passenger services between Canterbury West and Lyminge were withdrawn on 1 December 1940 and the line was placed under military control.[1] On 31 October 1941, a fireman was killed on the footplate near Barham during an air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

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