Bourne railway station

Bourne
The station approach in 1961
General information
LocationBourne, South Kesteven
England
Grid referenceTF095197
Platforms2[1]
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyBourn and Essendine Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Northern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Eastern Region of British Railways
Key dates
16 May 1860Opened (Bourne)
May 1872Renamed (Bourn)
1 July 1893Renamed (Bourne)
2 March 1959Closed for passengers[2]
5 April 1965closed for freight

Bourne was a railway station serving the town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, which opened in 1860 and closed to passengers in 1959.[3]

History

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A 1903 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of Bourne (left). GNR in brown; M&GN in yellow.
View southwards, towards Essendine in 1961

The station was on the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway main line between the Midlands and the Norfolk Coast.[4] It was finally closed in 1959 when the M&GN was closed. The line from Spalding and also the Sleaford branch as far as Billingborough remained in use for goods until 1964. The remaining station buildings were demolished in 2005 to make way for new residential development.[5]

The original station opened in 1860 as the terminus of the Bourn and Essendine Railway, which provided connecting services to the Great Northern main line, and the local Stamford and Essendine Railway. It was this company which took over the Red Hall rather than demolishing it. The line was operated by the GNR, and later owned by them. The line was closed in June 1951.[6]

The next development was the opening of the Bourne and Spalding Railway in 1866,[7] converting the site into a through station.

In 1870, the Great Northern exercised its powers to build the Bourne and Sleaford Railway, opening in 1872. Although operated by the same company, this line was run separately from the Essendine line, and had its own goods yard.[8] This line closed to passengers in 1930 although a 'special' for the Festival of Britain ran in 1950.

The last line to open was the Saxby to Bourne line, which was part of the Midland & Great Northern project, which subsumed the Bourne & Spalding route. This connection opened in 1894 and was closed to passengers, along with the Spalding line, in 1959.[9]

The original down platform remained outside the Red Hall, after conversion to a through layout, but was no longer used. A hedge was planted along the running line edge to prevent passengers approaching the line. From the Bourne & Spalding period, a single island platform was used by passengers,[10] later reached by an iron lattice footbridge from the disused platform next to the Red Hall.[11] The footbridge was a characteristic Midland Railway design, and is likely to have been provided when the M&GN arrived. All passenger trains used the two faces of the island platform.[1]

With the site redeveloped in the 1970s as a light industrial estate, owned by Lincolnshire County Council, in 2014 Linden Homes started redevelopment of the site, into a residential development, which retains the original station building.[12]

Summary of former services

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Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Line and station closed
Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway
Line and station closed
Line and station closed
Great Northern RailwayTerminus
TerminusGreat Northern Railway
Line and station closed

Sample train timetable for July 1922

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The table below shows the train departures from Bourne on weekdays in July 1922.[13]

Departure Going to Calling at Arrival Operator
07.45 King's Lynn Twenty, Counter Drain, North Drove, Spalding, Weston, Moulton, Whaplode, Holbeach, Fleet, Gedney, Long Sutton, Sutton Bridge, Walpole, Terrington, Clenchwarton, South Lynn 09.32 M&GN
07.45 Essendine Thurlby, Braceborough Spa 07.59 GNR
08.55 Leicester Castle Bytham, South Witham, Edmondthorpe & Wymondham, Saxby, Melton Mowbray, Asfordby, Frisby, Brooksby, Rearsby, Syston 10.38 M&GN
09.05 Sleaford Morton Road, Rippingale, Billingborough & Horbling, Aswarby & Scredington 09.40 GNR
09.20 Essendine Thurlby, Braceborough Spa 09.35 GNR
10.48 Sleaford Morton Road, Rippingale, Billingborough & Horbling, Aswarby & Scredington 11.23 GNR
10.53 King's Lynn Twenty, Counter Drain, North Drove, Spalding, Weston, Moulton, Whaplode, Holbeach, Fleet, Gedney, Long Sutton, Sutton Bridge, Walpole, Terrington, Clenchwarton, South Lynn 12.50 M&GN
12.10 Lowestoft Central Sutton Bridge, South Lynn, Melton Constable, Aylsham, North Walsham, Yarmouth Beach, Gorleston-on-Sea, Corton, Lowestoft North. Also through coaches to Norwich and Cromer. 16.16 M&GN
12.15 Leicester Saxby, Melton Mowbray 13.28 M&GN
12.37 Saxby Castle Bytham, South Witham, Edmondthorpe & Wymondham 13.19 M&GN
13.00 Essendine Thurlby, Braceborough Spa 13.15 GNR
14.30 King's Lynn Twenty, Counter Drain, North Drove, Spalding, Weston, Moulton, Whaplode, Holbeach, Fleet, Gedney, Long Sutton, Sutton Bridge, Walpole, Terrington, Clenchwarton, South Lynn 16.45 M&GN
15.25 Sleaford Morton Road, Rippingale, Billingborough & Horbling, Aswarby & Scredington 16.00 GNR
15.28 Essendine Thurlby, Braceborough Spa 15,43 GNR
16.28 Nottingham Castle Bytham, Saxby, Melton Mowbray 17.41 M&GN
16.40 Lowestoft Central South Lynn, Fakenham, Melton Constable, Aylsham, North Walsham, Stalham, Potter Heigham, Yarmouth Beach, Gorleston-on-Sea, Lowestoft North. Also through coaches to Norwich and Cromer. 20.24 M&GN
16.50 Spalding Twenty, Counter Drain, North Drove 17.11 M&GN
16.50 Essendine Thurlby, Braceborough Spa 17.04 GNR
17.55 Sleaford Morton Road, Rippingale, Billingborough & Horbling, Aswarby & Scredington 18.30 GNR
18.05 King's Lynn Twenty, Counter Drain, North Drove, Spalding, Weston, Moulton, Whaplode, Holbeach, Fleet, Gedney, Long Sutton, Sutton Bridge, Walpole, Terrington, Clenchwarton, South Lynn 20.05 M&GN
18.13 Essendine Thurlby, Braceborough Spa 18.33 GNR
18.15 Leicester South Witham, Saxby, Syston 19.28 M&GN
18.27 Nottingham Castle Bytham, South Witham, Edmondthorpe & Wymondham, Saxby, Melton Mowbray 19.30 M&GN
21.07 Spalding Twenty 21.27 M&GN

1873 accident

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From the Grantham Journal

The return excursion train which was due to leave London at ten minutes before twelve on Saturday night last arrived at Bourne between three and four o'clock on Sunday morning. When near the platform at Bourne station the engine came into violent collision with two empty carriages which were standing upon the line, driving them completely through two very strong gates at the South Street crossing, one of the gates being smashed to splinters, and the carriages considerably damaged. There were nine passengers (including two ladies) in the carriage attached to the engine and we have not heard of anyone sustaining greater injury than a severe shaking. One gentleman's hat was smashed to such an extent that he has put in a claim for a new one.[14]

That would have the accident occurring on Sunday, 30 March 1873.

Mails

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An interesting extract from the Stamford Mercury in 1860:

The day delivery of letters in Bourne, which previously took place shortly after 3 o’clock in the afternoon, now commences about 11.30 a m. The train, which heretofore was due at Bourne at 10.58 a m, is now timed so as to reach Bourne at 11.20. By this alteration, a letter posted in London early in the morning may be delivered at Bourne the same day about noon.[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b Back, Michael (2009). Branch lines around Spalding: M&GN Saxby to Long Sutton. Middleton Press. p. 12. 1930s track layout, valid till the end of services.
  2. ^ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford, ISBN 1-85260-508-1, p. 40.
  3. ^ Historic England. "Bourne station, in the context of Bourne & Essendine (506985)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  4. ^ British Railways Atlas.1947. p.17
  5. ^ Bourne railway station. Archived 19 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Historic England. "Essendine & Bourne (1365423)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  7. ^ Historic England. "Bourne & Spalding (1365028)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  8. ^ Historic England. "Bourne & Sleaford (136542)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  9. ^ Historic England. "Midland & G N (1365034)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  10. ^ England - Lincolnshire: 140/NE (Map). 1:10,560. Ordnance Survey. 1891. The island platform layout is clear, but the footbridge is not shown
  11. ^ England - Lincolnshire: 140/NE (Map). 1:10,560. Ordnance Survey. 1931. The 1931 map does show the footbridge.
  12. ^ "New Houses for Sale in Lincolnshire | Linden Homes".
  13. ^ Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation Guide, July 1922
  14. ^ Grantham Journal. 5 April 1873. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ^ "Delvery of letters". Stamford Mercury. 9 November 1860.
  • Rhodes, John (1986). Bourne to Essendine. KMS Books, Assembly Rooms, Market Place, Boston, Lincs. PE21 6LY. ISBN 978-0-948017-03-2.
  • Squires, Stewart; Hollamby, Ken, eds. (2010). Building a Railway: Bourne to Saxby. The Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology and The Lincoln Record Society (joint publishers). p. 152. ISBN 978-0-901503-86-2. Archived from the original on 30 October 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2010. An account of the building of the Bourne-Saxby line in 1890–1893.
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52°45′50″N 0°22′40″W / 52.76398°N 0.37774°W / 52.76398; -0.37774