Cocking Railway Station served the village of Cocking in

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was on the former

London Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR; known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its ...

line between

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

and

Midhurst Midhurst () is a market town, parish and civil parish in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother inland from the English Channel, and north of the county town of Chichester. The name Midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as ''Middeh ...

. The station was designed by T. H. Myres, in his standardized Domestic Revival style, each formed like a large "Country House", similar to the stations on the

Bluebell Railway The Bluebell Railway is an heritage line almost entirely in West Sussex in England, except for Sheffield Park which is in East Sussex. It is managed by the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. It uses steam trains which operate between an ...

History

The station opened on 11 July 1881, but the traffic hoped for never really materialised. The station lost its passenger services on 6 July 1935, although freight continued. Services between Cocking and Midhurst were stopped completely by a washout of an embankment in November 1951, and Cocking became the terminus of the line from Chichester, until 28 August 1953 when it was completely closed. The station is now used as a private home.

Accidents and incidents

In 1904, a freight train hauled by

LB&SCR D1 class The LB&SCR D1 class were powerful 0-4-2 suburban passenger tank locomotives, designed by William Stroudley of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1873. They were originally known as "D-tanks" but later reclassified as class D1. Membe ...

locomotive No. 239 ''Patcham'' was derailed near Cocking. On 19 November 1951 a freight train hauled by LB&SCR C2X class locomotive no. 32522 was derailed between Cocking and Midhurst after part of an embankment was washed out as a result of a blocked culvert. The line was subsequently abandoned.

References

Disused railway stations in West Sussex Former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1881 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1953 Thomas Myres buildings 1881 establishments in England {{SouthEastEngland-railstation-stub