Chesterfield Market Place railway station

Chesterfield Market Place railway station was a former railway station in the centre of the town of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England.

Chesterfield Market Place
LocationChesterfield, Chesterfield
England
Coordinates53.2351°N 1.4319°W / 53.2351; -1.4319
Grid referenceSK379710
Platforms4
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyLD&ECR
Pre-groupingGreat Central Railway
Post-groupingLNER
British Railways
Key dates
8 March 1897Opened as "Chesterfield"
1 January 1907Renamed "Chesterfield Market Place"
3 December 1951Closed to passengers[1]
4 March 1957Closed completely[2]
LD&ECR and Sheffield District Railway
1950 Excursion Advert
The Hotel, named after the Duke of Portland, at present

Three stations

Chesterfield Market Place station was the third and final station to be built in the town.

Services from the first two:

ran north–south, but those from Chesterfield Market Place ran to the east.

History

Opening

The station was opened as "Chesterfield" by the LD&ECR on 8 March 1897[3][1][4] and was the headquarters of the line. It was renamed "Chesterfield Market Place" on 1 January 1907.[1][4] The station was closed to passengers by BR on 3 December 1951[1][4] because of the prohibitive cost of maintaining and repairing Bolsover Tunnel, together with concerns over Doe Lea Viaduct and the limited amount of traffic. Goods services[5] continued until 4 March 1957.[6]

Market Place station was situated on West Bars, adjacent to two old inns; the White Horse and the Bird in Hand. To take advantage of the additional custom generated by the railway, the owners of the White Horse, William Stones brewery of Sheffield, applied to build a new hotel. This was approved by the licensing magistrates in April 1898.

As the licensing laws of the time prevented a pub from closing down during rebuilding, the new hotel was built in two parts. Building of the first phase commenced on the site of the Bird in Hand which had closed and had recently been demolished, its licence being transferred to the refreshment rooms in Market Place station. When the first part was complete the licence was transferred from the White Horse, along with the landlord, Job Siddall. The second phase was then erected on the site of the White Horse. The hotel, named after the Duke of Portland, on whose estate much of the railway ran, was officially opened Christmas 1899 by the Earl of Rosebery Archibald Primrose.

Layout

The station was a substantial three storey structure with a long glass awning,[7][8][9] it was quite unlike any other station on the line.

Inside the station a glass-roofed concourse led to four curved platforms[10][11][12] on two islands - 1 & 2, 4 & 5. In the centre, in place of the missing platform 3, was a release line for the locomotives.[13][14][15][16][17] The adjacent goods depot was, at the time, the largest covered area in the town.

Leaving the station, the line passed the Saxby and Farmer 80 lever station signal box,[18][19] crossed Park Road by an arched brick bridge then travelled along a short length of embankment followed by Boythorpe Viaduct which crossed the MR's Brampton Branch[20] and the industrial "Boythorpe Railway",[21] then a longer stretch of embankment leading to a major viaduct at Horns Bridge, which passed over the Midland Railway, main roads to Mansfield and Derby, the Great Central Railway, Hyde's Sidings and the River Rother. It consisted of seven brick arches and four girder spans, 63 feet high.[13] From there, the line climbed at 1 in 100 as far as the first summit at Duckmanton Tunnel, followed shortly by the station at Arkwright Town.

Operations

Until 1927, the station was also served by Chesterfield Tramway which ran from Brampton to Whittington. A dead end spur was built near the station and was situated on Market Place. At least one published photograph of the station shows the tramlines and overhead wires.[22]

Passenger Services

Chesterfield Market Place never had a Sunday service.

In 1922 There were seven departures Monday to Friday, with four extra on Saturdays.

The weekday seven consisted of:

The Saturday extras consisted of one to Bolsover, one to Langwith Junction, later renamed Shirebrook North and two to Mansfield Central.

A notable feature was the care taken to timetable services along the Beighton Branch to connect with Chesterfield services at Langwith Junction. At 10:44, for example, four trains would be standing at Langwith Junction:

Anyone catching the last weekday departure from Chesterfield, the 19:00 to Mansfield Central, could stay in his or her seat at Langwith Junction and arrive at Mansfield Central at 19:50 or change trains and arrive at Mansfield Town at 19:40.[23]

More journey opportunities were added in 1925 when the service from Nottingham Victoria through Skegby and Pleasley East which since inception in 1901 had inexplicably terminated at Shirebrook South was extended the last mile to Shirebrook North. This was a forlorn gesture, as the service was withdrawn throughout in 1931.[24]

The intersecting services along the Beighton Branch were withdrawn on the outbreak of the Second World War with Mansfield Central services ending by 1945, leaving Chesterfield Market Place with two all stations trains to Lincoln plus some shorter workings to Shirebrook North and to Bolsover.[25]

Closure

The station's moment of glory came in August 1948 when its considerable amount of unused track and space was put to work to house the Stephenson Centenary Exhibition of locomotives and rolling stock. [26][27][28] As a last hurrah special trains were run to the seaside shortly before the station closed to passengers on 3 December 1951.[29]

After closure to passengers the track was, in modern parlance, "rationalised." The tracks into the platforms were lifted[30] and the line to Arkwright Town was singled and operated on the "one engine in steam" basis. This was perfectly adequate for the single daily freight train from Staveley.[31][32] This ended in March 1957.

From some point between 1951 and 1956 the station building became used by Charles Credland Ltd, a paint and wallpaper firm,[3] which continued until demolition.

Tracks were lifted in 1957/8 when the bridge over Park Road was demolished using explosives.[33]

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Terminus   Great Central Railway
Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway		   Arkwright Town
Line and station closed

Present day

The station was demolished in April 1973[34] and, following considerable redevelopment of the area,[35] it has now been built upon. The current building occupying the space is Future Walk, the finance headquarters for the Post Office. A few signs of the old embankment can still be seen at the bottom of the car park.

References

Notes
  1. Butt 1995, p. 59.
  2. Ludlam 2013, p. 139.
  3. Gilks 2002, p. 204.
  4. Quick 2009, p. 123.
  5. Little 2003, p. 16.
  6. Clinker 1988, p. 28.
  7. Little 2003, p. 13.
  8. Early close-up of Chesterfield MP station entrance
  9. Booth 2013, p. 7.
  10. Howard Anderson 1973, pp. 161,177.
  11. Little 1995, pp. 9,12.
  12. Anderson 2013, pp. 332-4.
  13. Cupit & Taylor 1984, p. 15.
  14. Kingscott 2007, p. 133.
  15. Booth 2013, pp. 7-12.
  16. Cowlishaw 2006, p. 74.
  17. Gellatly 2020, p. 41.
  18. Goode 1983, p. 46.
  19. Booth 2013, pp. 10&14.
  20. Kaye 1985, p. 35.
  21. Kaye 1988, p. 75.
  22. Lund 1997, p. 30.
  23. Bradshaw 1985, p. 718.
  24. Little 1995, p. 81.
  25. Little 1995, p. 9.
  26. Little 1995, p. 15.
  27. Kaye 1986, p. 26.
  28. Booth 2013, p. 11.
  29. DVD 2005, first 18 minutes.
  30. Booth 2013, p. 13.
  31. Cupit 1956, p. 498.
  32. 1953 Working Timetable via flickr
  33. Kaye 1986, p. 27.
  34. Anderson 2013, p. 333.
  35. Hilmer 2007, pp. 41-42.

Sources
  • Anderson, Paul (June 2013). Hawkins, Chris (ed.). "Out and About with Anderson". Railway Bylines. Clophill: Irwell Press Ltd. 18 (7). ISSN 1360-2098.
  • Booth, Chris (2013). The Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway A pictorial view of the "Dukeries Route" and branches. Blurb. 06715029.
  • Bradshaw, George (1985) [July 1922]. Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation guide for Great Britain and Ireland: A reprint of the July 1922 issue. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-8708-5. OCLC 12500436.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Clinker, C.R. (1988) [1978]. Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830–1980 (2nd ed.). Bristol: Avon-Anglia Publications & Services. ISBN 978-0-905466-91-0. OCLC 655703233.
  • Cowlishaw, John (2006). British Railways in and Around the Midlands 1953-57. Nottingham: Book Law Publications. ISBN 978-1-901945-47-8.
  • Cupit, Jack; Taylor, W. (1984) [1966]. The Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway. Oakwood Library of Railway History (2nd ed.). Headington: Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-302-2. OL19.
  • Cupit, Jack (October 1956). Allen, G. Freeman (ed.). "The Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway Part 2". Trains Illustrated. Hampton Court: Ian Allan Publishing. IX (10).
  • DVD (2005). The Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway - Memories of a Lost Route. Chesterfield: Terminus Publications. DVD, stills with commentary, 60 mins.
  • Gellatly, Bob (2020). An A-Z Guide to Great Central Railway Locomotives inherited by the LNER. Great Central Railway Society.
  • Gilks, David (April 2002). Blakemore, Michael (ed.). "Mr. Arkwright's Railway". Back Track. Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Publishers. 16 (4).
  • Goode, C.T. (1983). Railway Rambles on the Notts. & Derbyshire Border. Kingston upon Hull: C. T. Goode. ISBN 978-0-9508239-2-8.
  • Hilmer, John (2007). British Railways Past and Present: Derbyshire. Kettering: Past & Present Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85895-252-9. No. 56.
  • Howard Anderson, P. (1973). Forgotten Railways: The East Midlands. Newton Abbott: David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-6094-1.
  • Kaye, A.R. (1988). North Midland and Peak District Railways in the Steam Age, Volume 2. Chesterfield: Lowlander Publications. ISBN 978-0-946930-09-8.
  • Kaye, A.R. (1985). The Changing Face of Chesterfield, a Pictorial Then and Now Album. Chesterfield: Lowlander Publications. 271 of 1500.
  • Kaye, A.R. (1986). The Changing Face of Chesterfield, a Pictorial Then and Now Album, Volume 2. Chesterfield: Lowlander Publications. OCLC 505270533.
  • Kingscott, Geoffrey (2007). Lost Railways of Derbyshire. Newbury, Berkshire: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-042-8.
  • Little, Lawson (1995). Langwith Junction, the Life and Times of a Railway Village. Newark-on-Trent: Vesper Publications. ISBN 978-0-9526171-0-5.
  • Little, Lawson (Spring 2003). Bell, Brian (ed.). "L.D.E.C Part IV Chesterfield". Forward. Holton le Clay: Brian Bell for the Great Central Railway Society. 135. ISSN 0141-4488.
  • Ludlam, A.J. (March 2013). Kennedy, Rex (ed.). "The Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway". Steam Days. Bournemouth: Redgauntlet 1993 Publications. 283. ISSN 0269-0020.
  • Lund, Brian (1997) [1995]. Derbyshire Railway Stations on old picture postcards. Keyworth: Reflections of a Bygone Age. ISBN 978-0-946245-86-4.
  • Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway and Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.

Further reading
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