Bodiam railway station

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Bodiam

Location

Location

Bodiam

Area

Rother, East Sussex

Grid reference

TQ783249

Operations

Pre-grouping

Kent and East Sussex Railway

Post-grouping

Southern Region of British Railways

Platforms

History

15 May 1905

Opened

2 January 1954

Closed

2 April 2000

Reopened

Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom

Closed railway stations in Britain
A B C D-F G H-J K-L M-O P-R S T-Z

UK Railways Portal

Bodiam is a heritage railway station on the Kent and East Sussex Railway in Bodiam, Kent.

[edit] History

Situated half a mile from the Bodiam village itself and its fourteenth century castle, the station opened in 1905 in a rather remote and rural location. It was surrounded by hop fields, mainly owned by Guinness, and helped to serve the industry in the area, bringing hop-pickers to and from the fields and transporting hops to the breweries.^[1] In 1910, a siding was added which effectively acted as a loop allowing freight trains to pass passenger trains.^[2] The station was known as "Bodiam for Staplecross".

In keeping with other stations on the line, the main station building was fitted out in typical spartan style. Only Gents toilet facilities were available and the urinal was flushed using water gathered in the building's rainwater pipe.^[2]

Dwindling passenger numbers and increased competition from road hauliers saw the line close in 1954. It was subsequently rescued in 1971 by the Tenterden Railway Company (now the Kent and East Sussex Railway) who purchased the line between Tenterden and Bodiam for £60,000.^[2] Its extension to Bodiam was completed in 2000 and the station now marks the line's southern terminus.^[3]