Ouse Valley Railway
51°01′59″N 0°06′50″W / 51.033°N 0.114°W
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The Ouse Valley Railway was to have been part of the
Background
In the 1860s, the
Authorisation
An
Route
The line was to leave the Brighton Main Line just south of Balcombe Viaduct and pass through Lindfield. From there it would follow the Ouse Valley to Sheffield Park and then pass north of Newick to Shortbridge and connect with the railway south of Uckfield, which was then the terminus of the line from Lewes.[2]
The line would then pass through
Construction and abandonment
Construction of the line between Haywards Heath and Uckfield began in May 1866 – the month of the collapse of Overend & Gurney's Bank, which was a major financier of railway construction projects at the time. Work stopped in February 1867 and was not resumed.[3]
Remains
There is still much to be seen of the line between Haywards Heath and Uckfield. Skew Bridge across Borde Hill Lane between Haywards Heath and Balcombe (TQ 325 273) has extended abutments where the railway would have passed over the road. Each side of the road at Borde Hill (TQ 325 273) embankments survive, with a remnant of the bridge abutment on the southern side, visible from Copyhold Lane. A cutting leads to what would have been a tunnel at Kenwards Farm (TQ 325 273). In Lindfield an embankment at TQ 348 264 survives. Lindfield station would have been at TQ 351 261 with recently found remains of a brick-making kiln in what would have been the station yard. Near Sharp's Bridge there are the beginnings of cuttings either side of Buckham Hill where there would have been a short tunnel and south of Uckfield, an embankment and the only other completed bridge (TQ 456 205). Although reported as destroyed during the construction of the Uckfield Bypass in the 1990s, the bridge is still in position although in decrepit state, visited but not photographed September 2009.[3] In April 2009, about a mile south-west of Uckfield there were two sections of embankments and cuttings, at (TQ 456 205 - TQ 452 207) and (TQ 451 208 - TQ 447 209). The remains of one bridge abutment were visible adjacent to a footpath at TQ 456 205.
See also
- List of never used railways
References
- ^ Only Lindfield confirmed by Oppitz. Other stations between Lindfield and Hailsham mentioned as possibilities by Oppitz. Stations between Hailsham and St Leonards indicate localities the line would have passed through.
- ^ ISBN 0-905392-99-X.
- ^ a b c d e "Ouse Valley". Sussex Industrial Archaeological Society. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
- ^ "A PICTORIAL GUIDE TO THIS MYSTERIOUS RAIL LINE". Horsted Keynes. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
- ^ "Acts of the Parliaments of the United Kingdom Part 53 (1863)". Office of Public Sector Information. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
Further reading
- Sekon, G.A. (November–December 1946). "Abandoned Lines of the L.B.S.C.R". The Railway Magazine. p. 346.
- Sekon, G.A. (November–December 1946). "Abandoned Lines of the L.B.S.C.R". The Railway Magazine. p. 365.
- Robbins, Michael (September 1951). "The Ouse Valley Railway". The Railway Magazine. p. 629.