West Norfolk Junction Railway
Encyclopedia
The West Norfolk Junction Railway was a standard gauge
18½ mile single track railway running between Wells-on-Sea railway station
and Heacham
in the English
county of Norfolk
. It opened in 1866 and closed in 1953.
|}
The West Norfolk Junction Railway was opened in August 1866. The line came from Heacham
on a 18½ mile single track aimed at exploiting the great arc of coastline between Hunstanton
and Yarmouth
. 1866 saw the start of a major financial crisis triggered by the collapse of Overend Gurney Bank
; the year also saw the outbreak of a "cattle plague" in North Norfolk
which impacted on the cattle receipts on the line. The West Norfolk was absorbed into the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway in 1872 which in turn was acquired by the Great Eastern Railway
in 1890.
During the Second World War, the railway's strategic coastal location meant that it provided a natural 'rampart' behind which a potential beach invasion could be repelled. For this reason, a line of pillboxes
were constructed along the railway.
The post-war boom experienced by the King's Lynn to Hunstanton line was not felt on the West Norfolk Junction Railway whose inconveniently-sited stations contributed to declining passenger traffic. Passenger services from Wells were eventually withdrawn from 31 May 1952, but the line remained open to freight. However, following the North Sea flood of 1953
, the track between Wells and Holkham
was so severely damaged that British Rail
considered it not worth repairing and the line was closed completely between these two places.
Up to the end of its existence, the line was one of the last where one could travel in gas-lit cleristory coaches hauled by Victorian locomotives.
At Heacham
, services to Wells started and terminated in a bay platform
to the east of the line, while trains to Hunstanton and King's Lynn departed from a two-faced bay platform just to the west. The station was rebuilt at least twice, with the Great Eastern Railway
adding platform canopies, a turntable and improving the platform buildings. More substantial modifications were carried out by the London and North Eastern Railway
in 1937 as Heacham had by then become a significant holiday destination, and it was necessary to extend the passing loop
to accommodate 13-coach trains. A lattice girder footbridge linked the platforms, while a signal box
was situated on the down side.
Sedgeford railway station
was the first station after Heacham
on the single-track West Norfolk Junction Railway. It was a small station located in a rural area, equipped with a single platform on the down side, built to smaller dimensions to other stations on the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway, and without a stationmaster's residence. Very basic goods facilities were provided in the shape of a single carriage siding on the down side. The station's staff amounted to two persons, reduced to one in the final years. Traffic on the line was largely agricultural, consisting of corn
, sugar beet
, cattle
and agricultural machinery
. A level crossing
lay to the east of the platform.
After passing through Docking
, trains arrived at Stanhoe railway station
, situated more than a mile from the village from which it took its name; its remote rural location was accentuated by the fact that it lay at a height of around 200ft above sea level. With no goods facilities provided, the station had one of the simplest layouts on the line; a single platform on the up side on which was built a signal box
and single storey station building out of Norfolk flint
rather than the usual Great Eastern Carstone. A level crossing
lay to the west while the line climbed to the west, running parallel with a minor road before crossing it on a level about a mile from Docking
.
Burnham Market
was the principal intermediate station on the West Norfolk branch, serving the largest settlement between Heacham and Wells. Its importance was to decline towards the end of the nineteenth century as it shed its urban functions to become the village it is today. A single platform was provided together with a brick station building situated on the down side of the line. A crossing loop to the west of the station allowing it to be a passing place. Four sidings led from the loop to serve a goods yard equipped with a red brick goods shed. Another siding led to a nearby brickworks
which used the railway to import coal. The station, like many others along the line, also handled its fair share of agricultural traffic and, in addition, some fish traffic (notably shellfish
) from nearby villages such as Brancaster
and Burnham Overy
.
The station was also the nearest to Lord Nelson's birthplace at Burnham Thorpe
, a fact capitalised on by the Great Eastern Railway which erected large nameboards proclaiming that this was the station "For Burnham Thorpe & Nelson's Birthplace".
At Holkham
the railway line curved away from the main village centre dominated by Holkham Hall
, and followed a path nearer the coast. The line had been opposed by the occupant of Holkham Hall, the Earl of Leicester
, who feared that it would lead to large scale resort development and an influx of holiday visitors near his home. A station was nevertheless opened opposite the main gates of Holkham Park which had been laid out by Thomas Coke
who had reclaimed from the sea some of the land over which the railway now ran. The station's approach road, Lady Ann's Drive, continued for around half a mile to the beach at Holkham Gap. The station itself was very small, equipped with a single platform and no goods facilities. Architecturally, it was a miniature version of the Great Eastern
's "Victorian House" design, incorporating a small platform canopy. There was a level crossing
over Lady Ann's Road which was controlled by a wooden signal box
.
The line entered Wells
on a sharp curve, turning through a full 180 degrees before converging with the Wymondham to Wells branch
from Dereham
for the final approach. West Norfolk services used the outer face of a sheltered wooden island platform
to the south of the station, with the inner face being set aside for services to Dereham and Wymondham
. The Dereham side was unusual in that there was a platform on either side of the train, allowing the passengers the choice of which side to alight from, much the same as Ventor
and Ulverston
stations.
The majority of the route remains unobstructed. The stations at Heacham, Sedgeford, Stanford, Burnham Market and Wells-nest-the-Sea remain in good order, and large sections of the route remain in transport use as roadways and drives.
Holkham station has been demolished, although the WW2 pill boxes remain. The site of Docking station has been redeveloped as a housing estate, although the station house survives as a private residence, and the route into Wells has been partially redeveloped as housing, a school playing field and an industrial estate.
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...
18½ mile single track railway running between Wells-on-Sea railway station
Wells-On-Sea railway station
Wells-next-the-Sea railway station served the small seaside port of Wells-next-the-Sea in North Norfolk, England. It was opened in 1857 by the Wells & Fakenham Railway, later part of the Great Eastern Railway's Wymondham to Wells branch, and became a junction in 1866 with the arrival of the West...
and Heacham
Heacham railway station
Heacham was a railway station which served the seaside village of Heacham in Norfolk, England. Opened in 1862, the station served as a junction where services left the King's Lynn to Hunstanton line for Wells on the West Norfolk Junction Railway which opened in 1866...
in the English
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...
county of Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
. It opened in 1866 and closed in 1953.
History
|}
The West Norfolk Junction Railway was opened in August 1866. The line came from Heacham
Heacham railway station
Heacham was a railway station which served the seaside village of Heacham in Norfolk, England. Opened in 1862, the station served as a junction where services left the King's Lynn to Hunstanton line for Wells on the West Norfolk Junction Railway which opened in 1866...
on a 18½ mile single track aimed at exploiting the great arc of coastline between Hunstanton
Hunstanton
Hunstanton, often pronounced by locals as and known colloquially as 'Sunny Hunny', is a seaside town in Norfolk, England, facing The Wash....
and Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
. 1866 saw the start of a major financial crisis triggered by the collapse of Overend Gurney Bank
Overend, Gurney and Company
Overend, Gurney & Company was a London wholesale discount bank, known as "the bankers' bank", which collapsed in 1866 owing about 11 million pounds, equivalent to £981 million at 2008 prices.-Early years:...
; the year also saw the outbreak of a "cattle plague" in North Norfolk
North Norfolk
North Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, United Kingdom. Its council is based in Cromer. The council headquarters can be found approximately out of the town of Cromer on the Holt Road.-History:...
which impacted on the cattle receipts on the line. The West Norfolk was absorbed into the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway in 1872 which in turn was acquired by the Great Eastern Railway
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
in 1890.
During the Second World War, the railway's strategic coastal location meant that it provided a natural 'rampart' behind which a potential beach invasion could be repelled. For this reason, a line of pillboxes
British hardened field defences of World War II
British hardened field defences of World War II were small fortified structures constructed as a part of British anti-invasion preparations. They were popularly known as pillboxes by reference to their shape.-Design and development:...
were constructed along the railway.
The post-war boom experienced by the King's Lynn to Hunstanton line was not felt on the West Norfolk Junction Railway whose inconveniently-sited stations contributed to declining passenger traffic. Passenger services from Wells were eventually withdrawn from 31 May 1952, but the line remained open to freight. However, following the North Sea flood of 1953
North Sea flood of 1953
The 1953 North Sea flood was a major flood caused by a heavy storm, that occurred on the night of Saturday 31 January 1953 and morning of 1 February 1953. The floods struck the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Scotland.A combination of a high spring tide and a severe European windstorm caused a...
, the track between Wells and Holkham
Holkham railway station
Holkham was a railway station which served the coastal village of Holkham in Norfolk, England. Opened by the West Norfolk Junction railway in 1866, it closed with the line in 1952.- History :...
was so severely damaged that British Rail
Eastern Region of British Railways
The Eastern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound up at the end of 1992...
considered it not worth repairing and the line was closed completely between these two places.
Up to the end of its existence, the line was one of the last where one could travel in gas-lit cleristory coaches hauled by Victorian locomotives.
Route
Heacham railway station
Heacham was a railway station which served the seaside village of Heacham in Norfolk, England. Opened in 1862, the station served as a junction where services left the King's Lynn to Hunstanton line for Wells on the West Norfolk Junction Railway which opened in 1866...
, services to Wells started and terminated in a bay platform
Bay platform
Bay platform is a railway-related term commonly used in the UK and Australia to describe a dead-end platform at a railway station that has through lines...
to the east of the line, while trains to Hunstanton and King's Lynn departed from a two-faced bay platform just to the west. The station was rebuilt at least twice, with the Great Eastern Railway
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
adding platform canopies, a turntable and improving the platform buildings. More substantial modifications were carried out by the London and North Eastern Railway
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...
in 1937 as Heacham had by then become a significant holiday destination, and it was necessary to extend the passing loop
Passing loop
A passing loop is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at a station, where trains or trams in opposing directions can pass each other. Trains/trams in the same direction can also overtake, providing that the signalling arrangement allows it...
to accommodate 13-coach trains. A lattice girder footbridge linked the platforms, while a signal box
Signal box
On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetable...
was situated on the down side.
Sedgeford railway station
Sedgeford railway station
Sedgeford was a railway station which served the settlement of Sedgeford in Norfolk, England. Opened by the West Norfolk Junction railway in 1866, it closed with the line in 1952.- History :...
was the first station after Heacham
Heacham railway station
Heacham was a railway station which served the seaside village of Heacham in Norfolk, England. Opened in 1862, the station served as a junction where services left the King's Lynn to Hunstanton line for Wells on the West Norfolk Junction Railway which opened in 1866...
on the single-track West Norfolk Junction Railway. It was a small station located in a rural area, equipped with a single platform on the down side, built to smaller dimensions to other stations on the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway, and without a stationmaster's residence. Very basic goods facilities were provided in the shape of a single carriage siding on the down side. The station's staff amounted to two persons, reduced to one in the final years. Traffic on the line was largely agricultural, consisting of corn
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, sugar beet
Sugar beet
Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...
, cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
and agricultural machinery
Agricultural machinery
Agricultural machinery is machinery used in the operation of an agricultural area or farm.-Hand tools:The first person to turn from the hunting and gathering lifestyle to farming probably did so by using his bare hands, and perhaps some sticks or stones. Tools such as knives, scythes, and wooden...
. A level crossing
Level crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
lay to the east of the platform.
After passing through Docking
Docking railway station
Docking railway station was a station in Norfolk, serving the village of Docking. It closed in 1952.Former Services...
, trains arrived at Stanhoe railway station
Stanhoe railway station
Stanhoe was a railway station which served the village of Stanhoe in Norfolk, England. Opened by the West Norfolk Junction railway in 1866, it closed to passengers in 1952.- History :...
, situated more than a mile from the village from which it took its name; its remote rural location was accentuated by the fact that it lay at a height of around 200ft above sea level. With no goods facilities provided, the station had one of the simplest layouts on the line; a single platform on the up side on which was built a signal box
Signal box
On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetable...
and single storey station building out of Norfolk flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
rather than the usual Great Eastern Carstone. A level crossing
Level crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
lay to the west while the line climbed to the west, running parallel with a minor road before crossing it on a level about a mile from Docking
Docking railway station
Docking railway station was a station in Norfolk, serving the village of Docking. It closed in 1952.Former Services...
.
Burnham Market railway station
Burnham Market was a railway station which served the village of Burnham Market in Norfolk, England. Opened by the West Norfolk Junction railway in 1866, it closed with the line in 1952.- History :...
was the principal intermediate station on the West Norfolk branch, serving the largest settlement between Heacham and Wells. Its importance was to decline towards the end of the nineteenth century as it shed its urban functions to become the village it is today. A single platform was provided together with a brick station building situated on the down side of the line. A crossing loop to the west of the station allowing it to be a passing place. Four sidings led from the loop to serve a goods yard equipped with a red brick goods shed. Another siding led to a nearby brickworks
Brickworks
A brickworks also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock often with a quarry for clay on site....
which used the railway to import coal. The station, like many others along the line, also handled its fair share of agricultural traffic and, in addition, some fish traffic (notably shellfish
Shellfish
Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
) from nearby villages such as Brancaster
Brancaster
Brancaster is a village and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. The civil parish of Brancaster comprises Brancaster itself, together with Brancaster Staithe and Burnham Deepdale...
and Burnham Overy
Burnham Overy
Burnham Overy is a civil parish on the north coast of Norfolk, England. In modern times a distinction is often made between the two settlements of Burnham Overy Town, the original village adjacent to the parish church and now reduced to a handful of houses, and Burnham Overy Staithe, a rather...
.
The station was also the nearest to Lord Nelson's birthplace at Burnham Thorpe
Burnham Thorpe
Burnham Thorpe is a small village and civil parish on the River Burn and near the coast of Norfolk in the United Kingdom. It is famous for being the birthplace of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, victor at the Battle of Trafalgar and one of Britain's greatest heroes...
, a fact capitalised on by the Great Eastern Railway which erected large nameboards proclaiming that this was the station "For Burnham Thorpe & Nelson's Birthplace".
At Holkham
Holkham railway station
Holkham was a railway station which served the coastal village of Holkham in Norfolk, England. Opened by the West Norfolk Junction railway in 1866, it closed with the line in 1952.- History :...
the railway line curved away from the main village centre dominated by Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall is an eighteenth-century country house located adjacent to the village of Holkham, on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk...
, and followed a path nearer the coast. The line had been opposed by the occupant of Holkham Hall, the Earl of Leicester
Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester
Thomas William Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester KG , known as Viscount Coke from 1837 to 1842, was a British peer....
, who feared that it would lead to large scale resort development and an influx of holiday visitors near his home. A station was nevertheless opened opposite the main gates of Holkham Park which had been laid out by Thomas Coke
Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (seventh creation)
Thomas William Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester , known as Coke of Norfolk, was a British politician and agricultural reformer. Born to Wenman Coke, Member of Parliament for Derby and his wife Elizabeth, Coke was educated at several schools, including Eton College, before undertaking a Grand Tour of...
who had reclaimed from the sea some of the land over which the railway now ran. The station's approach road, Lady Ann's Drive, continued for around half a mile to the beach at Holkham Gap. The station itself was very small, equipped with a single platform and no goods facilities. Architecturally, it was a miniature version of the Great Eastern
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
's "Victorian House" design, incorporating a small platform canopy. There was a level crossing
Level crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
over Lady Ann's Road which was controlled by a wooden signal box
Signal box
On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetable...
.
The line entered Wells
Wells-On-Sea railway station
Wells-next-the-Sea railway station served the small seaside port of Wells-next-the-Sea in North Norfolk, England. It was opened in 1857 by the Wells & Fakenham Railway, later part of the Great Eastern Railway's Wymondham to Wells branch, and became a junction in 1866 with the arrival of the West...
on a sharp curve, turning through a full 180 degrees before converging with the Wymondham to Wells branch
Wymondham to Wells branch
The Wymondham to Wells branch was a railway built in stages by the Norfolk Railway and Eastern Counties Railway between 1847 and 1857. The railway ran from Wymondham in the south, through Dereham and Fakenham to the coastal town of Wells-next-the-Sea; more specifically, the line ran from Wymondham...
from Dereham
Dereham railway station
Dereham railway station is a railway station in the town of Dereham in the English county of Norfolk. The station is served by heritage services on the Mid-Norfolk Railway from Dereham to Wymondham.- History :...
for the final approach. West Norfolk services used the outer face of a sheltered wooden island platform
Island platform
An island platform is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange...
to the south of the station, with the inner face being set aside for services to Dereham and Wymondham
Wymondham railway station
Wymondham is a railway station in the town of Wymondham in the English county of Norfolk. The station is served by local services operated by East Midlands Trains and National Express East Anglia on the Breckland Line 17 km west of Norwich to Peterborough and Cambridge.Wymondham station is...
. The Dereham side was unusual in that there was a platform on either side of the train, allowing the passengers the choice of which side to alight from, much the same as Ventor
Ventnor railway station
Ventnor railway station was the terminus of the Isle of Wight Railway line from Ryde.The station lay on a ledge above sea level which had to be quarried into the hill side. The station was immediately outside a long tunnel through St. Boniface Down. A lack of space meant that a turntable was...
and Ulverston
Ulverston railway station
Ulverston railway station is a railway station that serves the town of Ulverston in Cumbria, England.It is located on the Furness Line from Barrow-in-Furness to Lancaster. It is operated by First TransPennine Express....
stations.
Present day
Holkham station has been demolished, although the WW2 pill boxes remain. The site of Docking station has been redeveloped as a housing estate, although the station house survives as a private residence, and the route into Wells has been partially redeveloped as housing, a school playing field and an industrial estate.