New Romney and Littlestone-on-Sea railway station
Encyclopedia
- This article is about a closed railway station of the South Eastern Railway.
- For the current light railway station at New Romney, see New Romney railway stationNew Romney railway stationNew Romney railway station is a station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in New Romney, Kent, England. It has always been the headquarters location of the railway.-Temporary terminus:...
.
New Romney and Littlestone-on-Sea was a railway station which lay in between the villages of New Romney
New Romney
New Romney is a small town in Kent, England, on the edge of Romney Marsh, an area of flat, rich agricultural land reclaimed from the sea after the harbour began to be silted up. New Romney was once a sea port, with the harbour adjacent to the church, but is now more than a mile from the sea...
and Littlestone-on-Sea
Littlestone-on-Sea
Littlestone-on-Sea is a small coastal village close to New Romney. Started in the 1880's by Sir Robert Perks, as a resort for the gentry, at the point of the local lifeboat station. At low tide a WWII 'Mulberry Harbour' is visible and along the coast there is a P.L.U.T.O...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The station opened in 1884 and closed in 1967.
Early years
The station was opened by the Lydd Railway Company on 19 June 1884, the first day of passenger services on its 3-mile branch to New Romney from its existing line between Appledore and DungenessDungeness railway station (SER)
Dungeness was a railway station which served the Dungeness headland in Kent, England. Opened in 1883 by The Lydd Railway Company, it closed to passengers in 1937...
. At the time, a Victorian block of houses and hotels had been constructed in Littlestone-on-Sea in the hope of creating a seaside resort.
Both railway branches were served by the same train from Appledore; in some cases it went to either New Romney or Dungeness, in others, passengers for New Romney were left at Lydd
Lydd Town railway station
Lydd Town was a railway station which served the town of Lydd in Kent, England. Opened on 7 December 1881 by The Lydd Railway Company, it closed to passengers in 1967 leaving the line through the station to remain open for freight.- History :...
while the train proceeded to Dungeness with the Lydd stationmaster who would sell tickets to passengers alighting there. The train then returned to Lydd, dropped the Dungeness passengers there, and transported the New Romney passengers to their destination. The service to New Romney in 1905 comprised eight weekday departures from Appledore - four exclusively serving New Romney and four serving New Romney and Dungeness. There was a single Sunday working to New Romney.
Station buildings
New Romney and Littlestone station, which had the suffix on-sea added in 1888, was a small two-platformed terminus equipped with an equally small goods yard. The main station building was located on the down platform, while the goods shed was just to the south-west behind the platform together with coal wharves, an end loading dock, a water towerWater tower
A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....
and other small buildings. In later years the up platform was hardly used other than as a livestock loading dock. In 1927, one of the sidings was extended across the road to deliver coal to the depot of the newly-opened Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
The Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway is a gauge light railway in Kent, England. The line runs from the Cinque Port of Hythe via Dymchurch, St...
(RHDR) which was to open its own New Romney station
New Romney railway station
New Romney railway station is a station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in New Romney, Kent, England. It has always been the headquarters location of the railway.-Temporary terminus:...
here.
Decline and closure
In the 1920s the long-awaited seaside development began in earnest. The Southern Railway (which had taken over the line upon the 1923 railway groupingRailways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...
) realigned the New Romney branch nearer the coast in 1937 and provided two intermediate stations - Greatstone-on-Sea
Greatstone-on-Sea Halt railway station
Greatstone-on-Sea Halt was a railway station which served the modern village of Greatstone-on-Sea in Kent, England. The station opened in 1937 and closed in 1967.- History :...
and Lydd-on-Sea
Lydd-on-Sea Halt railway station
Lydd-on-Sea Halt was a railway station which served the modern village of Lydd-on-Sea in Kent, England. The station opened in 1937 and closed in 1967.- History :...
. However, the Southern had been slow in reacting to the coastal development and the RHDR had already been operating from more conveniently-sited stations for the best part of a decade. Furthermore, the pattern of services remained more or less the same until 1952 when it increased to nine services from Appledore to New Romney (including two through trains from Ashford
Ashford railway station
Ashford railway station is a railway station in Ashford, Surrey in the borough of Spelthorne in South East England. Although the station signage displays only Ashford, the station is referred to in timetables, and as printed on railway tickets, either as Ashford , or Ashford , in order to...
), and four services on Sundays from Ashford. In addition, two direct services from Charing Cross
Charing Cross railway station
Charing Cross railway station, also known as London Charing Cross, is a central London railway terminus in the City of Westminster, England. It is one of 18 stations managed by Network Rail, and trains serving it are operated by Southeastern...
were laid on for summer Saturdays.
Following the electrification of the line to Dover in 1962 and the prohibition of steam on South Eastern
South Eastern Railway (UK)
The South Eastern Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent...
metals, the New Romney branch was served by diesel-electric sets
Diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
with either six-car or three-car units. Although through services from Charing Cross ceased, services remained relatively regular with nine departures from Ashford and two from Appledore on weekdays. The New Romney branch was listed for closure in the Beeching Report but survived until 1966 when the Minister of Transport
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
Barbara Castle
Barbara Castle
Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn , PC, GCOT was a British Labour Party politician....
announced her intention of closing the Appledore to New Romney Branch and passenger services ceased on 6 March 1967.