Brookland Halt was a railway station which served the village of Brookland in Kent, England. The station opened in 1881 and closed in 1967.

History

Brookland was the first station on the Lydd Railway Company's

New Romney New Romney is a market town in Kent, England, on the edge of Romney Marsh, an area of flat, rich agricultural land reclaimed from the sea after the harbour began to silt up. New Romney, one of the original Cinque Ports, was once a sea port, w ...

branch line. It opened to traffic on 7 December 1881. The station was ½ mile from Brookland village, one of the larger settlements on Romney Marsh, and an area well known for games and wrestling as well as

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

. It was located on the north side of the A259 Straight Lane which links the villages of

Brenzett Brenzett is a village and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe District of Kent, England. The village lies on the Romney Marsh, three miles (4.8 km) west of New Romney. The population of the civil parish includes the hamlet of Snave. T ...

and Brookland; a small ground frame shed controlled the level crossing staffed by a resident signal-porter who also sold tickets.Subterranea Britannica, "Brookland Halt".
/ref> Brookland was once an impressive station boasting two platforms, with the main station building on the down side and a small wooden waiting shelter on the up side. A passing loop was also provided, but this was removed in 1921. As passenger traffic dwindled and freight became insignificant in the post- war period, the New Romney branch fell into decline and subsequently figured in the Beeching Report along with the Ashford to Hastings line. Although the closure was protested against, passenger services ceased on 6 March 1967, with the section between Romney Junction and

closing entirely. The line was retained for goods traffic to

Dungeness Power Station The Dungeness nuclear power stations are a pair of non-operational nuclear power stations located on the Dungeness headland in the south of Kent, England. Dungeness A is a legacy Magnox power station consisting of two 250 MWe reactors which ...

Present day

The station building remains as a private residence and the down platform remains extant if overgrown; the up platform has been partially covered in soil and is heavily overgrown. The line through the station remains open for freight traffic and is subject to a 20 mph speed restriction. The level crossings are unstaffed and have to be operated by the train crew. The line sees regular nuclear waste traffic from Dungeness nuclear power station.

References

Citations Sources * Disused railway stations in Kent Former South Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1881 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1967 Folkestone and Hythe District Beeching closures in England 1881 establishments in England 1967 disestablishments in England {{Kent-railstation-stub