Box Hill and Westhumble
National Rail
General information
LocationWesthumble, District of Mole Valley
England
Grid referenceTQ167518
Managed bySouthern
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeBXW
ClassificationDfT category F2
History
Opened11 March 1867
Passengers
2018/19Increase 0.102 million
2019/20Increase 0.115 million
2020/21Decrease 48,982
2021/22Increase 93,512
2022/23Increase 0.106 million
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated30 December 1980
Reference no.1278326[1]
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Box Hill & Westhumble is a railway station in the village of Westhumble in Surrey, England,[2] approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Dorking town centre. Box Hill is located approximately 1⁄2 mile (800 m) to the east.[3] It is 21 miles 14 chains (34.1 km) down the line from London Waterloo. Train services are operated by Southern who manage the station, and South Western Railway.[3]

The station is the end point for the Thames Down Link long-distance footpath from Kingston upon Thames,[4] and lies close to the midpoint of the Mole Gap Trail between Leatherhead and Dorking.[5] The station is within 1⁄2 mile (800 m) of the North Downs Way.

History

The main station building, on Platform 1, was designed by Charles Henry Driver in the Châteauesque style.

The station was constructed at the insistence of Thomas Grissell the owner of Norbury Park, in part compensation for the railway cutting across his land to the north of the village. The main building was designed by Charles Henry Driver[6] in the Châteauesque style and included steeply pitched roofs with patterned tiles and an ornamental turret topped with a decorative grille and weather vane.[7] The building is currently in use as a private dwelling and commercial premises and is protected by a Grade II listing.[1]

Grissell also obtained the right from the LBSCR to stop any train on request, a privilege subsequently exercised by Leopold Salomons, who purchased Norbury Park in 1890. This concession was legally abolished by the Transport Act of 1962, however there is no evidence to suggest that it was regularly used after 1910.[7]

The name of the station has changed many times over the years with "Box Hill" & "Boxhill" and "Westhumble" & "West Humble" used in varying combinations for signs, timetables and railway maps, with many inconsistencies.[8] In 2006, after consultation with local residents, the station's name was changed to "Box Hill and Westhumble" from "Boxhill and Westhumble".[3]

Year Name of station
1867 West Humble for Box Hill
1870 Box Hill and Burford Bridge
1896 Box Hill
1904 Box Hill and Burford Bridge
1958 Boxhill and Westhumble
2006 Box Hill and Westhumble

Services

A South Western Railway service to Dorking, operated by a Class 455/7 multiple unit in August 2019.

Services at Box Hill & Westhumble are operated by Southern and South Western Railway using Class 377 and 455 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[9]

In the peak hours, the frequency between London Waterloo and Dorking is doubled to 2tph. On Saturday evenings (after approximately 18:45) and on Sundays, there is no service south of Dorking to Horsham.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Southern
  South Western Railway
  

Terrier tank engine

Boxhill is preserved as part of the National Collection at the National Railway Museum.

A Terrier tank engine, built by the LBSCR in 1880, was named Boxhill after the station.[10] It was used to haul commuter trains in South London and Surrey until the 1920s, when it was moved to become a shunting engine at Brighton. Unlike other engines of its class, its smokebox was not modified in the early 20th century, and it was restored by the Southern Railway in 1947 to its original condition and painted in its original Stroudley yellow ochre livery.[11] It is now preserved at the National Railway Museum in York.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 Historic England. "Boxhill and West Humble railway station (Grade II) (1278326)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  2. ↑ "National Rail Enquiries – Station Facilities for Box Hill and Westhumble". National Rail. Archived from the original on 9 January 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 "£1m upgrade at Box Hill & Westhumble station". Network Rail Media Centre. 8 June 2021. Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "Thames Down Link" (PDF). Surrey County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  5. ↑ "Mole Gap Trail" (PDF). 60 Walks for 60 Years. Natural England. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  6. ↑ "Opening of the Dorking and Leatherhead Railway". Brighton Gazette. British Newspaper Archive. 21 March 1867. Retrieved 8 August 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. 1 2 Jackson, Alan (1988). Dorking's Railways. Dorking Local History Group. ISBN 1-870912-01-2.
  8. ↑ Shepperd, Ronald (1991). Micklam the story of a parish. Mickleham Publications. ISBN 0-9518305-0-3.
  9. ↑ Table 152, 180 National Rail timetable, December 2021
  10. 1 2 "London Brighton & South Coast Railway locomotive Boxhill". Science Museum Group. 12 October 2009. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  11. ↑ Wickham, John (June 2015). "Other Terriers". The Terrier Trust on the Web. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
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