Forncett railway station was a railway station in
Forncett
Forncett is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
It covers an area of and had a population of 1,000 in 381 households at the 2001 census, increasing to 1,126 at the 2011 census.
For the purposes of local government, it falls within ...
,
South Norfolk
South Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Long Stratton. The population of the Local Authority District was 124,012 as taken at the 2011 Census.
History
The district was formed on 1 April 197 ...
located 104 miles from London Liverpool Street. It was opened in 1849 when
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
and
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
were connected by the
Eastern Union Railway
The Eastern Union Railway (EUR) was an English railway company, at first built from Colchester to Ipswich; it opened in 1846. It was proposed when the earlier Eastern Counties Railway failed to make its promised line from Colchester to Norwich. T ...
in 1849.
Between 1881 and 1951 it was a junction for a short route to Wymondham and was closed as a result of the
Beeching Axe
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...
with other smaller stations between Norwich and Ipswich.
Description (post 1881)
The station consisted of two platforms with the up (to London) platform being 363 feet and the down (from London) platform 452 feet. The station building was situated on the up side with a wooden waiting shelter located on the down. The two platforms were linked by a footbridge provided in 1882.
A goods yard consisting of three sidings and a brick goods shed was located south of the station on the up side.
Long refuge sidings were provided north of the station with a 44 foot turntable being provided on the up side in 1881 in connection with the line to Wymondham.
The station
signal box
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
was located at the north end of the down platform. A short distance to the north a second signal box called Forncett Junction was located controlling access to and from the Wymondham line some 30 chains to the north.
History
Opening and early years (1849-1862)
Forncett station was opened on 7 November 1849 by the Eastern Union Railway although regular services did not commence until 12 December that year. The opening of the line meant that London Liverpool Street and Norwich (Victoria) were linked although the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) operated the line as far as Colchester and the EUR between Colchester and Norwich. The ECR already operated the Norwich to London via Thetford and Cambridge route at this date.
The EUR was taken over by the
Eastern Counties Railway
The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English Rail transport, railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Great Yarmouth, Yarmouth.
Construction began in 1837 on t ...
in 1854. However, by the 1860s the railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble, and most were leased to the ECR. It wished to amalgamate formally but could not obtain government agreement for this until 1862, when the
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...
(GER) was formed by the amalgamation.
Great Eastern Railway (1862-1922)
The Great Eastern Railway opened the Wymondham – Forncett line on 7 May 1881 and facilities such as the turntable (diameter 44 feet 9 inches) and footbridge were added at this time. The intention was to give the line from
Wells-next-the-Sea
Wells-next-the-Sea is a port town on the north coast of Norfolk, England.
The civil parish has an area of and in 2001 had a population of 2,451,Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Census population and household c ...
a connection into Norwich to Liverpool Street trains at Forncett and vice versa. For example in 1882 the 1.50 pm departure from Wells arrived at Forncett at 3.08 pm in time to connect to the up express and arrive in Liverpool Street at 6.00 pm.
In 1892 a locomotive inspection pit was added.
On 22 February 1908 a violent storm partially wrecked the down timber built platform.
Heavy flooding on 26 August 1912 saw the main line north of Forncett Junction closed with trains diverted via Wymondham. Damage to several bridges saw the diversions continue until 2 October.
Although there was no engine shed as such Forncett had, in 1917 two drivers and a fireman for local workings. No locomotive was allocated and it is likely these would have come from
Norwich engine shed
Norwich engine shed was located in Norwich, England and was opened in 1843. It closed in 1982 and was replaced by a new modern facility at Crown Point.
Early history
Norwich engine shed was adjacent to the station on the south side of the line ...
.
In the final year of GER operation, there were no through trains from Wells to Forncett although a branch service of six trains per day operated to Wymondham.
London & North Eastern Railway (1923-1948)
Following the passing of the
Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921 (c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an Act of Parliament enacted by the British government and intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grouping" them into four la ...
on 1 January 1923 the operation of Forncett station was taken over by the
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...
(LNER).
In 1925 the LNER closed Forncett Junction signal box transferring its signalling responsibilities to the station signal box.
Passenger services were withdrawn from the Forncett - Wymondham line on 11 September 1939 as a wartime economy measure. This line saw some additional traffic during the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
but at one stage one of the running lines was being used as a siding for damaged rolling stock.
British Railways (1948-1966)
Following
nationalisation
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
in 1948 the station became part of the
Eastern Region of British Railways
The Eastern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948, whose operating area could be identified from the dark blue signs and colour schemes that adorned its station and other railway buildings. Together with the North Eastern Region ( ...
. The passenger service had not been restored after the war and by the July 1950 timetable change there was no traffic at all from Forncett towards Wymondham. The line was closed in August 1951.
Freight, which for many years during the 1950s consisted of a daily pick-up freight train between Norwich and Stowmarket, was finally withdrawn on 28 December 1964.
The last passenger trains called on 5 November 1966 when the Ipswich to Norwich stopping service was withdrawn.
Since closure
The line to Norwich remains in operational use and was electrified in May 1987.
The station was in the news in July 2012 when the body of a woman who had died after being hit by a train was found at the site.
Woman dies after being hit by a train near disused Norfolk station
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References
External links
{{coord, 52.4963, 1.1990, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title
Disused railway stations in Norfolk
Former Great Eastern Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1849
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1966
1849 establishments in England
Beeching closures in England