Denvilles halt

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Denvilles halt is a closed station located between Havant and Rowlands Castle on the Portsmouth Direct Line. It was erected by the London and South Western Railway Company in 1858 as a temporary platform, and closed in 1859 once a through connection to Havant had been established.

There are no remains of the station except some old semaphore signal posts. The signal flags don't remain however. Also some slates of the platform and an old ballast house. The station was the only station on the line that used blue bricks. The reason why is unknown. The picture shows the approximate position of Denvilles station. The reason the station closed is that it was to far out of town and had only been meant as a temporary platform. The houses were not built yet.

[edit] Battle of Havant

It was when the two local railway companies started 'the Battle of Havant' that the history of the station starts. The LB&SCR refused to let the LSWR use their tracks to reach Portsmouth. So they blocked the Portsmouth Direct Line just above the junction to LB&SCR tracks. So just up the line LSWR built a temporary terminus at Denvilles. The trains stopped here and passengers took the LSWRs horse-drawn omnibus to Cosham to continue their journey to Portsmouth. LB&SCR removed the northbound rail so trains could not continue. This lasted two years. The trains were all allowed entry to Havant station.