Isfield railway station
Isfield | |
---|---|
Station on Southern Railway Southern Region of British Railways | |
Key dates | |
18 October 1858 | Opened |
23 Feb 1969 | last train ran |
6 May 1969 | Officially closed |
16 June 1983 | Sold by British Rail |
Isfield is a preserved railway station on the closed section of the Wealden Line which served the East Sussex village of Isfield near Uckfield. Originally opened in 1858, the station closed in 1969 and was sold into private hands in 1983 to subsequently become the current centrepiece of the Lavender Line, a heritage railway.
History
Serving a relatively rural area, Isfield was a quiet station on the busy through-route from Brighton and Tunbridge Wells. Architecturally, it was a mirror image of Barcombe Mills station; equipped with two platforms, the main station buildings were on the Up side, whilst a small wooden waiting shelter was provided for the Down platform. There was no footbridge between the platforms, but passengers could easily cross by the level crossing just to the west of the station.[2]
During the
Although the last train ran on 23 February 1969, the station remained open to issue bus tickets until the buses themselves were withdrawn on 6 May.
Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Uckfield Line closed, station open |
British Rail Southern Region Wealden Line |
Barcombe Mills Line and station closed |
Restoration
Following its closure in 1969 the track was removed in 1970 and the station remained neglected and overgrown gradually being covered by a shroud of trees and grass. After fourteen years of disuse, it was auctioned on 14 June 1983 by
The wooden down waiting platform had been sold to the
It was decided to operate the station as a small heritage operation called the Lavender Line after A.E. Lavender & Sons who were the original
Having invested around £750,000 into the site, Dave Milham sold his interest in the Lavender Line in 1992, leaving the operation to be taken over by the Lavender Line Preservation Society, a group of enthusiasts whose membership rose from 15 to around 300 in little under 15 months.[4]
Future and Possible Extensions
Despite attempts by the Wealden Line Campaign to have the line from Uckfield through Isfield to Lewes reopened to passenger traffic, a July 2008 study concluded that although technically feasible, the line would be "economically unviable".[8]
The Lavender Line Preservation Society has expressed an interest in reopening the line between Uckfield and Lewes in the long-term future and has submitted proposals to
In April 2009, the Council's Director of Transport and Environment recommended that the petition be refused on the basis that a heritage operation would prejudice the reopening of the line and the costs entailed would divert funding away from core Council services.[10]
References
- ^ "Disused Stations: Isfield Station".
- ISBN 0-906520-32-0.
- ISBN 978-1-85306-697-9.
- ^ a b Isfield Station on Subterranea Britannica
- ^ a b Jennings, Richard (1985). The Lavender Line: The story of Isfield Station 1858-1969 (reborn 1984). Steyning, Sussex: Ashdown Publishing Ltd.
- ^ Oppitz, L., p. 33.
- ^ Oppitz, L., p. 35.
- ^ East Sussex County Council (23 July 2008). "Issued on behalf of the Central Rail Corridor Board: Rail study report concludes that reinstatement is not economically viable" (Press release). Retrieved 21 August 2008.
- Wealden District Council (December 1998). "Local Plan; Chapter 9: Transport, paragraph 9.69" (PDF). Retrieved 23 July 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ East Sussex County Council (7 April 2009). "Petition to extend, and designate, the Lavender Line as a heritage railway: Report by the Director of Transport and Environment" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2009.