Northampton Bridge Street
Station in 1966
General information
LocationFar Cotton, Northampton, Northampton
England
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyLondon and Birmingham Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and North Western Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
London Midland Region of British Railways
Key dates
13 May 1845Opened as Northampton
June 1876Station renamed Northampton Bridge Street
4 May 1964Station closed to passengers[1][2]
1972Station closed to freight[2]
2005Last sidings by the station closed[2]

Northampton Bridge Street is a former railway station in Northampton, the main town of Northamptonshire, on the Northampton and Peterborough Railway which connected Peterborough and Northampton.[3]

History

From The Illustrated London News, 24 July 1847
Map of railways in the vicinity of Northampton in 1930

Originally named Northampton, this was the first station serving the town. It opened in 1845, with buildings designed by architect John William Livock.[4] The service was from Peterborough to Northampton via Wellingborough. It was renamed Northampton Bridge Street in 1876, after a new station was built for the line to Market Harborough.[5] The station meant that people could travel to Wellingborough, Irthlingborough and Peterborough more quickly than before.

The station closed to passengers in 1964,[2] the buildings being demolished in 1969.[6] Freight trains continued to use Bridge Street regularly until 1972; a lone remaining group of corporate sidings finally closed in 2005.[2]

Stationmasters

  • William Young until 1848
  • Robert Snape 1848 - 1852
  • Charles Livock 1853 - 1871[7] (formerly station master at Weedon, afterwards station master at Rugby)
  • J. Webster 1871 - 1874[7] (formerly station master at Tamworth)
  • Charles Livock 1874 - 1875[7] (formerly station master at Rugby
  • George Norris 1875[7] - 1880[8]
  • J. Mellor 1880 - 1882[9]
  • George William Teat 1882[10] - 1890[9]
  • G. Gauntley 1890 - 1897[9]
  • John Edwin Widdowson 1897 - 1898[11] (afterwards station master at Northampton Castle)
  • Henry Burrell ca. 1899
  • Edward Burrell 1900 - 1907[12]
  • William Smith 1908 - 1913[12]
  • Philip Haines 1913[12] - 1920 (formerly night station master at Northampton Castle)
  • J. Bentham 1928[13] - 1931[14] (also station master at Northampton Castle)
  • F.C. O’Connor 1932 - 1937[15] (also station master at Northampton Castle, afterwards station master at Sheffield)
  • Henry Preston 1937 - 1941[16] (formerly station master at Luton, also station master at Northampton Castle)
  • Arthur Hill 1941 - 1944[17] (formerly station master at Upminster, also station master at Northampton Castle, afterwards station master at Wigan)
  • Bertie Hill 1944 - 1953 (brother of the previous station master, also station master at Northampton Castle)
  • Benjamin Blackburn from 1953[18] (formerly station master at Gourock, also station master of Northampton Castle, afterwards station master at Bolton Trinity)
  • A.S. Harcourt from 1962 (also station master at Northampton Castle)

Former services

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Blisworth   London and North Western Railway
Northampton and Peterborough Railway		   Billing
Northampton (Castle)   London and North Western Railway
Northampton to Market Harborough line		   Terminus

Today's usage

The actual station was between the Old Towcester Road and the line; this land is now a housing development.

The line still runs past the station site, although the line past the level crossing has been de-commissioned and is likely to become a road/cycle/walking route [NBC CAAP 2013].

There is still a Network Rail depot on the south side of the line, which includes an old LNWR shed.

Future plans

On 22 October 2013, the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation announced that it had agreed to purchase the disused Northampton Bridge Street branch line from Network Rail for £1.5 million to create a two-mile (3 km) cycle and pedestrian path linking the Brackmills Industrial Estate to the Northampton Enterprise Zone.[19]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Northampton Bridge Street railway station.
  1. ↑ Butt, R.V.J., (1995) The Directory of Railway Stations, Yeovil: Patrick Stephens
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Disused Stations: Northampton Bridge Street Station".
  3. ↑ British Railways Atlas.1947. p.17
  4. ↑ Pevsner, Nikolaus (1961). The Buildings of England. Northamptonshire. Penguin Books.
  5. ↑ Catford, Nick (28 June 2006). "Subterranea Britannica: SB-Sites: Northampton Bridge Street Station". Subterranea Britannica. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
  6. ↑ "Northampton History". Railway Correspondence and Travel Society. 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "1841-1878 Coaching". London and North Western Railway Operating, Traffic, Coaching Depts: 312. 1841. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  8. ↑ "Retirement of a Station-Master". Northampton Mercury. England. 6 November 1880. Retrieved 5 February 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. 1 2 3 "1887-1897 Coaching". London and North Western Railway Operating, Traffic, Coaching Depts: 64. 1887. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  10. ↑ "Presentation". Northampton Mercury. England. 3 June 1882. Retrieved 5 February 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ↑ "Mr. Widdowson's Retirement". Northampton Chronicle and Echo. England. 25 April 1919. Retrieved 5 February 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. 1 2 3 "1898-1914 Coaching Pgs.1-572". London and North Western Railway Operating, Traffic, Coaching Depts: 181. 1898. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  13. ↑ "New Stationmaster at Northampton". Northampton Chronicle And Echo. England. 4 December 1928. Retrieved 5 February 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ↑ "Mr. J. Bentham to retire". Northampton Mercury. England. 6 November 1931. Retrieved 5 February 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. ↑ "Stationmaster Going to Sheffield". Northampton Mercury. England. 5 March 1937. Retrieved 5 February 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. ↑ "Northampton Stationmaster Retires". Northampton Mercury. England. 10 October 1941. Retrieved 5 February 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. ↑ "Notes of the Week". Northampton Mercury. England. 19 May 1944. Retrieved 5 February 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. ↑ "Mr. Benjamin Blackburn". Northampton Mercury. England. 25 September 1953. Retrieved 5 February 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. ↑ "Northampton disused rail line bought by WNDC". BBC News. 21 October 2013.

52°13′44″N 0°53′51″W / 52.2290°N 0.8975°W / 52.2290; -0.8975


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