Cranbrook railway station is a disused English station which was on the closed Hawkhurst Branch in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

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 ...

Background

The station was opened on 4 September 1893, when the line was extended from to . The station was equipped with a single 300 ft platform on the down side, together with a goods only loop. The stationmaster's house was situated on the platform, with a large goods yard and red brick goods shed to the rear. A warehouse used by a local corn merchant was at the Goudhurst end of the yard. The station's name was a little deceptive in that the town of Cranbrook was two miles away. When the line was originally being constructed, local landowners had demanded high prices for the sale of their agricultural land and the South Eastern Railway had refused, amending the route of the line so that Cranbrook Station was actually located in Hartley. The villagers came to regret being excluded from the line, and an attempt was made to have a

light railway A light railway is a railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail": it uses lighter-weight track, and may have more steep gradients and tight curves to reduce civil engineering costs. These lighter standards allow ...

constructed to Hartley. This was never realised. The station was closed with the line on 12 June 1961. The station building was used for several years by Brian O'Donoghue and Keith Harding as "Cranbrook Station Pottery". This has now closed and it is reported that the station building is in poor condition, although the stationmaster's house is well preserved.

Notes

References

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External links

Cranbrook railway station at Disused-Stations.org.uk

{{coord, 51.0831, 0.5022, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Disused railway stations in Kent Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1893 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1961 1893 establishments in England 1961 disestablishments in England Former South Eastern Railway (UK) stations