Henfield was a railway station on the

Steyning Line The Steyning Line was a railway branch line that connected the West Sussex market town of Horsham with the port of Shoreham-by-Sea, with connections to Brighton. It was built by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, and opened in 1861. ...

which served the village of

Henfield Henfield is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies south of London, northwest of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester at the road junction of the A281 and A2037. Th ...

. It was equipped with a siding which received coal to serve the Steam Mill and Gas Works. Henfield Station was used in the Second World War as the loading point for locally grown sugar beet to be transported North to London, and Betley Bridge where the line crossed the River Adur about a mile to the North was a strategic target for German bombers. The station 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 ...

in 1966 and now forms part of the

Downs Link The Downs Link is a footpath and bridleway linking the North Downs Way at St. Martha's Hill in Surrey with the South Downs Way near Steyning in West Sussex and on via the Coastal Link to Shoreham-by-Sea. History For much of its route, ...

path. Nothing remains of the station today other than the name "Station Road". A housing estate named "Beechings" occupies much of the station's site, somewhat ironically given that it was

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

Chairman

Richard Beeching Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching (21 April 1913 – 23 March 1985), commonly known as Dr Beeching, was a physicist and engineer who for a short but very notable time was chairman of British Railways. He became a household name in Britain in the e ...

whose report recommended closure of the line.Henfield History Group
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References

{{coord, 50.9320, -0.2853, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Disused railway stations in West Sussex Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1861 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1966 Beeching closures in England 1861 establishments in England Former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway stations

See also

References