Hadleigh railway station
Hadleigh railway station was a station in Hadleigh, Suffolk, the terminus of the Hadleigh Railway, a short branch line from Bentley Junction. The line opened in 1847. The original intermediate stations were at Bentley Church, Capel and Raydon Wood.
Hadleigh | |
|---|---|
 Hadleigh railway station in 2011 | |
| Location | Hadleigh, Babergh England |
| Coordinates | 52.0407°N 0.9605°E |
| Platforms | 1 |
| Other information | |
| Status | Disused |
| History | |
| Original company | Eastern Union & Hadleigh Junction Railway[1] |
| Pre-grouping | Great Eastern Railway |
| Post-grouping | London and North Eastern Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 2 September 1847 | Opened[1] |
| 29 February 1932 | Closed to passengers |
| 19 April 1965 | closed to freight |
The terminus had goods sidings on both the south-western and north-eastern sides, the latter serving malt houses and which was also used as a running round loop. There was also a small engine shed.[2]
The station building was very ornate, if somewhat dwarfed by the adjacent malt houses, with attractive coupled chimneys and unusual windows with the frame and arch of stone.[3]
The decline in passenger numbers using the branch can be seen in the patronage figures, which were 14,447 in 1923 compared to 5,086 just five years later.[4] The line closed to passenger traffic in 1932, although freight services lingered on until 1965.
A proposal to extend services by building a light railway between Hadleigh and Long Melford was reported in the Haverhill Echo on 10 March 1900,[5] but that was not done.
The station building still stands and is in use as a private residence, with newer dwellings around it. The route to Raydon Wood is accessible as the Hadleigh Railway Walk.
| Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminus | Great Eastern Railway Hadleigh Railway |
Raydon Wood |
References
- 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. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
- Mitchell, Vic (June 2011). Branch Lines to Harwich and Hadleigh. Midhurst: Middleton Press. plan XIII. ISBN 978 1 908174 02 4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Mitchell 2011, plates 114, 118, 119
- Mitchell 2011, plate 114
- "1900-1903HaverhillEcho.html newspaper archive". Foxearth and District Local History Society. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
