Dunham Massey railway station served the village of that name between 1854 and closure in 1962.

Construction and opening

The Warrington and Altrincham Junction Railway

Warrington and Altrincham Junction Railway

The Warrington and Altrincham Junction Railway railway was created by act of parliament on the July 3 1851 to build a line between Timperley Junction on the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway, to provide a through route to Manchester, and Warrington Arpley on the St Helens and...

 (W&AJR) built its railway line from Warrington Arpley

Warrington Arpley railway station

Warrington Arpley railway station was a station located on the south side of Wilson Patten Street, Warrington, England at the junction of St Helens Railway and Warrington and Stockport Railway. It opened on the 1 May 1854; and it closed to passengers on 5 September 1958. Both railways were absorbed...

 via Latchford

Latchford

Latchford is a suburban district and electoral ward of the unitary borough of Warrington, in Cheshire, England. It is around one mile south of Warrington town centre and has a total resident population of 7,856....

 and Lymm

Lymm

Lymm is a large village and civil parish within the Warrington borough of Cheshire, in North West England. Lymm was an urban district of Cheshire from 1894 to 1974. The civil parish of Lymm incorporates the hamlets of Booths Hill, Broomedge, Church Green, Deansgreen, Heatley, Heatley Heath, Little...

 to Skelton Junction

Skelton Junction

Skelton Junction is a complex of railway junctions to the south of Manchester in Timperley, near Altrincham. Both the Cheshire Lines Committee's Liverpool to Manchester line and the LNWR's Warrington and Altrincham Junction Railway fed into the junction from Liverpool in the west...

 near Altrincham during 1852/53 and passenger train services commenced on 1 November 1853. There were six intermediate stations provided along the line's length including that at Dunham Massey

Dunham Massey

Dunham Massey is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The parish includes the villages of Sinderland Green, Dunham Woodhouse and Dunham Town, along with Dunham Massey Park, formerly the home of the last Earl of Stamford and owned by the National Trust...

, in Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, which was opened in June 1854. The station was located on the south side of Henshall Lane.

Names used by the station

The station was named Warburton from its opening until June 1856 when it became Warburton and Dunham. In October 1856 it was renamed Dunham, finally becoming Dunham Massey in April 1861, which name was retained until closure.

Train services from the station

The W&AJR changed its name to the Warrington and Stockport Railway on 4 August 1853, before the line was completed and that company was absorbed into the London and North Western Railway

London and North Western Railway

The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...

 (LNWR) on 15 July 1867. The main LNWR train service through Dunham Massey station was from Liverpool Lime Street

Liverpool Lime Street railway station

Liverpool Lime Street is a railway station serving the city centre of Liverpool, England. The station lies on a branch of the West Coast Main Line from London Euston, and on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network...

 via Warrington Arpley to Broadheath

Broadheath railway station

Broadheath railway station was a station that served Broadheath and the northern part of Altrincham in Cheshire, England between its opening in 1853 and closure in 1962.-Station construction, opening and ownership:...

, where trains joined the Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway and continued via Sale to Manchester London Road. In July 1922 the LNWR operated fifteen passenger trains in each direction on weekdays, eleven serving the full length of the line from Liverpool to Manchester and return.

Amalgamation, nationalisation and closure

The LNWR was amalgamated into the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSR) on 1 January 1923. The LMSR continued to operate the passenger train service through Dunham Massey, but by July 1946 only eight trains per day in each direction stopped at the station. The LMSR was nationalised on 1 January 1948 and operations on the line were vested in British Railways London Midland Region (LMR). In January 1956 the service to Dunham Massey was eight trains in each direction, with the fare for the eleven miles single journey to Manchester being 1s 7d (8p).

Passenger services along the line were withdrawn and the station was closed by British Railways on 10 September 1962. Freight trains continued to use the line until 7 July 1985, when the need for extensive repairs to the Latchford Viaduct caused the line to be closed. The station building survives in use as a domestic dwelling.