Hadleigh railway station

Former railway station in England

52°02′27″N 0°57′38″E / 52.0407°N 0.9605°E / 52.0407; 0.9605Platforms1Other informationStatusDisusedHistoryOriginal companyEastern Union & Hadleigh Junction Railway^[1]Pre-groupingGreat Eastern RailwayPost-groupingLondon and North Eastern RailwayKey dates2 September 1847Opened^[1]29 February 1932Closed to passengers19 April 1965closed to freight

Hadleigh railway station was a station in Hadleigh, Suffolk, the terminus of the Hadleigh Railway, a short branch line from Bentley Junction. The line opened in 1847. The original intermediate stations were at Bentley Church, Capel and Raydon Wood.

The terminus had goods sidings on both the south-western and north-eastern sides, the latter serving malt houses and which was also used as a running round loop. There was also a small engine shed.^[2]

The station building was very ornate, if somewhat dwarfed by the adjacent malt houses, with attractive coupled chimneys and unusual windows with the frame and arch of stone.^[3]

The decline in passenger numbers using the branch can be seen in the patronage figures, which were 14,447 in 1923 compared to 5,086 just five years later.^[4] The line closed to passenger traffic in 1932, although freight services lingered on until 1965.

A proposal to extend services by building a light railway between Hadleigh and Long Melford was reported in the Haverhill Echo on 10 March 1900,^[5] but that was not done.

The station building still stands and is in use as a private residence, with newer dwellings around it. The route to Raydon Wood is accessible as the Hadleigh Railway Walk.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Terminus		Great Eastern Railway Hadleigh Railway		Raydon Wood

References

^ ^a ^b Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
^ Mitchell, Vic (June 2011). Branch Lines to Harwich and Hadleigh. Midhurst: Middleton Press. plan XIII. ISBN 978-1-908174-02-4.
^ Mitchell 2011, plates 114, 118, 119
^ Mitchell 2011, plate 114
^ "1900-1903HaverhillEcho.html newspaper archive". Foxearth and District Local History Society. Retrieved 20 April 2010.