St Dennis railway station
Encyclopedia
1849 - 1960
The history of railway lines through the CornishCornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
village of St. Dennis
St Dennis, Cornwall
St Dennis is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated on the B3279 between Newquay and St Austell.St Dennis had a population of 2,696 in the 2001 census. A quarter of the male population is employed in the extraction of china clay.The village is famous for...
dates back as far as 1849. In that year, a tramway
Tramway (mineral)
Tramways are lightly laid railways, sometimes worked without locomotives. The term is in common use in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and elsewhere. In New Zealand, they are commonly known as bush tramways...
was opened linking the harbour in Newquay
Newquay
Newquay is a town, civil parish, seaside resort and fishing port in Cornwall, England. It is situated on the North Atlantic coast of Cornwall approximately west of Bodmin and north of Truro....
to areas where clay was - and still is - mined. This railway ran from Newquay, through the localities of Quintrell Downs
Quintrell Downs
Quintrell Downs is a village in Cornwall, UK, close to Newquay, at the junction of the A392 and A3058 roads. It is named after the surrounding area of moorland.The village is served by Quintrell Downs railway station....
, St Columb Road
St Columb Road
St Columb Road is a small village near Fraddon and Indian Queens in Cornwall, England, UK. It lies half a mile from the A30 road. St Columb Road railway station is still open on the branch line from Par to Newquay....
and St. Dennis.
On 14 July 1864 an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
was obtained for the Newquay and Cornwall Junction Railway
Newquay and Cornwall Junction Railway
The Newquay and Cornwall Junction Railway was a broad gauge railway intended to link the Cornwall Railway with the horse-worked Newquay Railway. It opened a short section to Nanpean in 1869, the remainder being built by the Cornwall Minerals Railway who took over the company in 1874...
. Construction proved to be easier said than done and the 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
railway from the main line at Burngullow up to Nanpean
Nanpean
Nanpean is a village in the civil parish of St Stephen-in-Brannel in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated on the B3279 road approximately four miles northwest of St Austell in the heart of 'clay country', the china clay quarrying area of mid-Cornwall.Nanpean church was built in 1879...
finally opened on 1 July 1869.
Upon the opening of the Cornwall Minerals Railway
Cornwall Minerals Railway
The Cornwall Minerals Railway operated a network of railway lines in Cornwall, United Kingdom. Based at St Blazey, its network stretched from Fowey to Newquay and lasted as an independent company from 1874 to 1896, after which it became a part of the Great Western Railway.-Authorisation:The...
line from Par
Par railway station
Par Station is a railway station serving the village and port of Par, Cornwall, England in the United Kingdom. It is the junction for the Atlantic Coast Line to Newquay. The station is operated by First Great Western, and served by trains operated by both First Great Western and...
to St Columb Road
St Columb Road railway station
St Columb Road railway station, on the Atlantic Coast Line, serves the village of St Columb Road in Cornwall, UK.-History:The first railway here was a horse-worked line from Newquay Harbour to Hendra Crazey...
on 1 January 1879 it became possible for trains of china clay
Kaolinite
Kaolinite is a clay mineral, part of the group of industrial minerals, with the chemical composition Al2Si2O54. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina octahedra...
to travel to the harbours at Par and Fowey
Fowey
Fowey is a small town, civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,273.-Early history:...
for onward shipping. At the same time, the old tramway from Newquay was rebuilt and extended to meet up with the line already at Nanpean.
On 23 May 1892 the line south of Nanpean was converted to the standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
used. Goods trains could now run through from St Dennis to Burngullow (although the line has never carried scheduled passenger trains).
The section of railway from Parkandillick (just south of St. Dennis) up to St. Dennis Junction closed in 1960 and this included the station at St. Dennis. The track over this stretch (Parkandillick - St. Dennis Junction) was then lifted. All that remains of the station at St. Dennis is an overgrown railway cutting plus a platform with fencing on it.
It is worth noting here that the name "St. Dennis Junction" was perhaps a bit of a misnomer being some way north of St. Dennis and nearer, in fact to the areas of St. Columb Road, Indian Queens
Indian Queens
Indian Queens is a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated west of Goss Moor and north of Fraddon approximately ten miles west-southwest of Bodmin....
and Toldish.
1960 - present
Since the link to the Par - Newquay railwayAtlantic Coast Line, Cornwall
The Atlantic Coast Line is a community railway line in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The line runs from the English Channel at Par, to the Atlantic Ocean at Newquay.-Route:The Atlantic Coast Line starts from Par station, in the village and port of Par...
was cut in 1960, the line from Burngullow up to Parkandillick (just south of St. Dennis) has remained open for freight.
In 1986 a proposal was put forward, the terms of which would have been, as far as the railways were concerned:
- to close the railway line between Par and St. Columb Road to passenger traffic;
- in relation to (a) the stations at RocheRoche railway stationRoche railway station serves the village of Roche in Cornwall, UK. It is situated on the Atlantic Coast Line.-History:The Cornwall Minerals Railway opened its line from Fowey to Newquay on 1 June 1874. The trains at first carried only goods traffic and a depot was provided at Holywell...
, BugleBugle railway stationBugle railway station on the Atlantic Coast Line serves the village of Bugle in Cornwall.-History:The first railway here was a horse-worked line from Par Harbour to "near the Bugle Inn" at Molinnis. It was built by Joseph Treffry and opened on 18 May 1847....
and LuxulyanLuxulyan railway stationLuxulyan railway station is located in the parish of Luxulyan in central Cornwall, England. It is one of the stations on the Atlantic Coast Line.-History:...
would also have closed; - to reopen the link between St. Dennis Junction and St. Dennis in order to once again give a through passenger route between St. Austell and St. Dennis;
This proposal never went through back then. In their 2001-2006 Cornwall Local Transport Plan (CLTP hereafter) it was proposed to reignite this scheme with additions. The proposals of the 2001-06 CLTP scheme were:
- to close the railway line between Par and St. Columb Road to passenger traffic;
- as a consequence, the stations at Roche, Bugle and Luxulyan would also have closed;
- to reopen the link between St. Dennis Junction and St. Dennis in order to once again give a through passenger route between St AustellSt AustellSt Austell is a civil parish and a major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the south coast approximately ten miles south of Bodmin and 30 miles west of the border with Devon at Saltash...
and St. Dennis; - potential release of the section of rail next to the A30A30 roadThe 284 miles A30 road from London to Land's End, historically known as the Great South West Road used to provide the most direct route from London to the south west; more recently the M3 motorway and A303 road performs this function for much of the route and only parts of A30 now retain trunk...
at Goss Moor for expansion of the road or development of a nature reserve; - to provide direct links for students (of St Austell College) and commuters between St. Austell and Newquay;
- potential for extra rail stops between Burngullow and St. Dennis;
- possible improved tourism for the Eden ProjectEden ProjectThe Eden Project is a visitor attraction in Cornwall in the United Kingdom, including the world's largest greenhouse. Inside the artificial biomes are plants that are collected from all around the world....
, Cornish Riviera and, of course, Newquay.
What became of the 2001-06 CLTP scheme is currently not known. The main reason for closing the Par - St Dennis line was to remove the low road bridge on the A30 at Goss Moor, however alternative road improvements have since been recommended.
External links
- Cornwall County Council - Major Scheme Bids (over £5m), a section of the Cornwall CC Local Transport Plan.
- Newquay & Cornwall Junction Railway