Irchester railway station was built by the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

in 1857 on its extension from to and in England. The station building was built on an overbridge. It closed for passenger traffic in 1960, and for goods in 1965. The

Irchester Irchester is a village and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, two miles (3 km) south-east of Wellingborough and two miles south-west of Rushden. The population of the village at the 2011 Census was 5,706 and estimated in 2019 at 5,767. ...

Bank is one of the steepest of five summit levels between

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

and

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

. The surrounding country provided important traffic to the line in the form of

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...

for the smelters in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

.Radford, B., (1983) ''Midland Line Memories: a Pictorial History of the Midland Railway Main Line Between London (St Pancras) & Derby'' London: Bloomsbury Books In the early twentyfirst century local campaigners argued for the station to be reopened to serve as a 'park and ride' station for the nearby town of

Rushden Rushden is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England, around east of Northampton. The parish is on the border with Bedfordshire, north of Bedford. The parish of Rushden covers an area of some ...

. (Web site last updated September 2003)

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References

Disused railway stations in Northamptonshire Former Midland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1857 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1960 Charles Henry Driver railway stations 1857 establishments in England North Northamptonshire {{EastMidlands-railstation-stub

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See also

References