Higham railway station was a station serving Higham in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of Suffolk. It was opened by the Great Eastern Railway in 1854 when the railway was extended from Newmarket to Bury St Edmunds. From 1929 onwards the four station staff were replaced by a 'Porter-in-charge' until the station's closure by British Railways in 1967.

History

Higham station was unique on the line for having an exceptionally large goods shed which dealt with a heavy agricultural traffic in the early twentieth century until goods traffic was withdrawn in 1964. The station also dealt with traffic from the nearby

Rothamsted Research Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Rothamsted Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, having been founded in 1843. It is located at Harp ...

Broom's Barn research institute. According to the

Official Handbook of Stations The ''Official Handbook of Stations'' was a large book (, 494 pages) listing all the passenger and goods stations, as well as private sidings, on the railways of Great Britain and Ireland. It was published in 1956 by the British Transport Commiss ...

the following classes of traffic were being handled at this station in 1956: G, P, F, L, H, C and there was a 1-ton 10 cwt crane.

Present day

Following the station's closure, the station building and goods shed were sold off and the track layout rationalised, resulting in the removal of the south platform and the closure of the signal box in 1970. Today, the station and the goods shed is in private ownership and well preserved as a crafts and lighting gallery, with the goods shed extended in 2002 and converted to a show room. The station building is the sole remaining example dating from the extension of the Newmarket line - identical buildings at Saxham and Risby railway station and

Kennett railway station Kennett is a railway station serving the villages of Kennett in Cambridgeshire and Kentford in Suffolk, England. It opened in 1854 when the railway was extended from Newmarket to Bury St Edmunds. At its peak during the period 1860 to 1890 t ...

have since been demolished. On 10 September 2016, the goods shed caught fire, closing the line, and was demolished the next day due to the risk of the building collapsing on to the line.

References

External links

Higham (Suffolk) station on navigable 1946 O.S. map
{{coord, 52.2652, 0.5583, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Disused railway stations in Suffolk Former Great Eastern Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1854 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1967