The Lynn and Hunstanton Railway was a line in
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, England that opened in 1862. The railway was a major factor in developing
Hunstanton
Hunstanton () is a seaside town in Norfolk, England, which had a population of 4,229 at the 2011 Census. It faces west across The Wash, making it one of the few places on the east coast of Great Britain where the sun sets over the sea. Hunstant ...
as a seaside resort and residential community. The company was allied to the West Norfolk Junction Railway which built a line connecting Heacham, south of Hunstanton, to Wells-next-the-Sea that was not a financial success. The companies amalgamated in 1874 to form the Hunstanton and West Norfolk Railway, and in 1890 the company was sold to the Great Eastern Railway.
The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, acquired an estate at
Sandringham, Norfolk
Sandringham is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Norfolk. The village is situated south of Dersingham, north of King's Lynn and north-west of Norwich.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 250 - Norfolk Coast W ...
, and
Wolferton
Wolferton is a village in north Norfolk, England, 2 miles west of Sandringham, Norfolk, Sandringham, 7½ miles north of King's Lynn and 37¼ miles northwest of Norwich.
Background
The village's name means 'Wulfhere's farm/settlement'.
The vil ...
station was used by the Royal Family and visiting heads of state. Hunstanton developed a thriving holiday trade, and day trip excursions became popular. After 1950 decline set in, and the Wells line closed to passengers in 1952; Hunstanton through trains to and from London ended in 1960 and further decline resulted in closure in 1969.
Promotion and construction
In 1846 efforts were made to promote
Hunstanton
Hunstanton () is a seaside town in Norfolk, England, which had a population of 4,229 at the 2011 Census. It faces west across The Wash, making it one of the few places on the east coast of Great Britain where the sun sets over the sea. Hunstant ...
as a seaside resort, and by the mid 1850s businesses were keen to attract visitors. The East Anglian Railway subsidised two omnibus services to Hunstanton from Lynn even though the town had a population of fewer than 500 people in 1861.
[D I Gordon, ''A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 5: the Eastern Counties'', David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1977, ]
The northern part of the Lynn and Ely Railway reached
King's Lynn
King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...
, known locally as ''Lynn'', in 1846.
[Leslie Oppitz, ''Lost Railways of East Anglia'', Countryside Books, Newbury, 1999, reprint 2000, ] Lynn was 16 miles from Hunstanton and a railway connection was projected. A Parliamentary Bill for the line from Lynn to Hunstanton gained Royal Assent on 1 August 1861. The Lynn and Hunstanton Railway was incorporated, with authorised capital of £60,000. The terminus at New Hunstanton, south of the old centre was where development was possible.
[Cecil J Allen, ''The Great Eastern Railway'', Ian Allan Ltd, Shepperton, fifth edition, 1968][G W J Potter, ''The Great Eastern Railway in West Norfolk'', in the Railway Magazine, June 1910]
The engineer for the line was John Sutherland Valentine. Finance was raised and the first sod was cut on 13 November 1861. Construction over the relatively flat terrain was completed in ten months within budget.[Stanley C Jenkins, ''The Lynn and Hunstanton Railway and the West Norfolk Branch'', The Oakwood Press, Usk, second edition 2011, ]
Opening
The Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...
inspection, required for passenger operation, took place in September 1862, and the line opened for traffic on 3 October 1862. The line was worked by 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 ...
for 50% of receipts.[
The Times reported:
]Railway Intelligence... Lynn and Hunstanton: This line was opened for traffic on Friday. The first train started at a little after noon, and conveyed the directors, contractors, and officers of the company, shareholders and others, to the number of about 150. A luncheon was served at the Hunstanton terminus. The line is 15 miles in length from the junction with the East Anglian division of the Great Eastern ailwayat Gaywood mmediately north of King's Lynn and its cost amounted altogether to only £80,000. The late Mr. L'Estrange, the proprietor of Hunstanton state
State may refer to:
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* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
sold the land for about miles of the line at its agricultural value, and took the price in shares...
The Wolverton olfertonstation is on the estate of the Prince of Wales (through which the line runs for nearly three miles), and is to be enlarged at the expense and for the accommodation of his Royal Highness. The Hunstanton terminus is near the verge of the cliffs. The line is worked by the Great Eastern Railway Company.[The Times (newspaper), 6 October 1862]
The Sandringham Estate had been purchased in February 1862 for the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...
.
The company was successful and a shareholders' meeting in August 1864, reported receipts of £3,500, and the profit after expenses was £1,372. A dividend of 4.5% was declared; by 1865 dividends of 6% were being distributed.[
]
Extending to Wells
The line's success led businesses to consider whether the North Norfolk coast, eastwards from Hunstanton, could be opened up by a railway. Plans were made for a nominally independent company to build the ''West Norfolk Junction Railway'', a lightly constructed line feeding into the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway, possibly a tramway alongside public roads. A conventional railway was made, and the West Norfolk Junction Railway obtained Royal Assent on 23 June 1864. The line ran from Heacham
Heacham is a large village in West Norfolk, England, overlooking The Wash. It lies between King's Lynn, to the south, and Hunstanton, about to the north. It has been a seaside resort for over a century and a half.
History
There is evidence o ...
, the first station south of Hunstanton, to the terminus of the Wells and Fakenham Railway
The Wells & Fakenham Railway, was the northern part of the Wymondham to Wells branch in Norfolk, England. It connected the market town of Fakenham to the coast at Wells-next-the-Sea. It closed to passenger traffic in 1964 and to goods traffic ...
at Wells
Wells most commonly refers to:
* Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England
* Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground
* Wells (name)
Wells may also refer to:
Places Canada
*Wells, British Columbia
England
* Wells ...
. It was 18 miles long, and the authorised capital was £75,000. The new company could run trains to Hunstanton and Wells Harbour. The Great Eastern Railway subscribed £30,000 and agreed to work the line for 50% of gross receipts.[Stanley C Jenkins, ''The Wells-next-the-Sea Branch via Wymondham and Dereham'', The Oakwood Press, Usk, second edition 2011, ]
Construction was swift and on 8 January 1866 the Prince and Princess of Wales had a semi-private journey several months before the official opening when they travelled to Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall ( or ) is an 18th-century English country house, country house near the village of Holkham, Norfolk, England, constructed in the Neo-Palladian style for the Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (fifth creation), 1st Earl of Leicester ...
to visit the Earl of Leicester.[ The first Board of Trade inspection refused consent to open he line because of shortcomings in the signalling arrangements. After they were rectified, the line opened 17 August 1866.][
]
The line curved sharply north at Wells to use Wells and Fakenham Railway station on the line that had opened in 1857.[ Another platform was provided for West Norfolk trains. Triangular junctions were planned at Heacham and Wells, but although a west curve formation was made at Wells, no track was laid, and no work was done at Heacham. At Heacham the line faced away from Hunstanton.][
There were generally four trains each way between Wells and Heacham, five on Saturdays and market days. In the earliest days passenger trains ran from Lynn to Wells via Hunstanton, passing Heacham twice; but soon most services terminated at Heacham apart from one through working to Hunstanton, which continued northwards after reversal at the junction. Goods services consisted of one return working between King's Lynn and Wells.][
The financial crisis in 1866 following the failure of ]Overend, Gurney and Company
Overend, Gurney & Company was a London wholesale discount bank, known as "the bankers' bank", which collapsed in 1866 owing about £11 million, equivalent to £ million in . The collapse of the institution triggered a banking panic.
History Ear ...
's bank and an outbreak of cattle plague
Rinderpest (also cattle plague or steppe murrain) was an infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and many other species of even-toed ungulates, including gaurs, buffaloes, large antelope, deer, giraffes, wildebeests, and warthogs ...
in North Norfolk hit the company's income: receipts amounted to £1,355 for the final quarter year of 1866, and no dividend was paid. After the financial success of the Lynn and Hunstanton line, this was a disappointment but the course of the line, which was some distance from the coast and the towns and villages situated on it, militated against its use for goods and passenger purposes.[
]
Amalgamations
The West Norfolk Railway was allied with the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway, and they amalgamated by Act of 8 June 1874, becoming the ''Hunstanton and West Norfolk Railway''.[ The Lynn and Hunstanton main line was relatively successful but smaller railways became more fragile in the latter decades of the 19th century, and on 1 July 1890 the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway was sold to the Great Eastern Railway for £160,000 and £5,000 for legal expenses.][
]
Growth from 1890
In the final years of the century, Hunstanton developed as a holiday resort, not only for holiday stays, but many wealthy business people lived there and travelled to London for business. Golfing stays at Hunstanton became popular and from 1905, a Sunday restaurant car express from London was provided specifically for golfers.[ As traffic developed, the track was doubled over the southern part of the line and completed between King's Lynn and Wolferton in 1898.
The Royal Family spent a lot of time at Sandringham. Royal trains reversed at King's Lynn where operation by local engines and crews took over. In London they ran to ]St Pancras station
St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It is ...
over the Tottenham and Hampstead Junction Railway
The Tottenham & Hampstead Junction Railway was a railway line in north London, formed by an Act of Parliament of 28 July 1862, which today is mostly part of the Gospel Oak to Barking line. It was effectively part of an attempt by the Great East ...
line. Liverpool Street station
Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...
was not used because royalty entering the City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
required ceremonial procedures, which were not always expedient.[ Between 1884 and 1911, 645 royal trains used Wolferton station.][ Ordinary express passenger trains ran to St Pancras, or conveyed coaches for St Pancras that were slipped at Tottenham Hale or detached there.][ In the 1930s, Sunday excursions, particularly Sunday schools, and long distance holiday trains became dominant.
West Norfolk trains terminated at Heacham, not usually running through to Hunstanton. There was no runround facility at Wells and after disembarking the passengers, the engine propelled the coaches back up the gradient, and after shunting the engine, the coaches were run down to the station by gravity.][
Pullman cars were run on some trains from 1921, but were not popular. From 1929, a day excursion train from London, the Eastern Belle, ran to different seaside destinations from day to day, and typically visited Hunstanton every two weeks on a Tuesday. In 1937 Hunstanton station was enlarged. Its four platforms were lengthened, and accommodation for passenger stock and locomotives was extended. After ]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 ...
there was heavy holiday traffic on the line, especially on Sundays, when a one way system was operated: nearly all incoming trains ran in the morning and all outgoing trains in the afternoon and evening.[ From 1949 a named train, ''The Fenman'' ran from Liverpool Street to Hunstanton. Heacham also began to develop as a holiday destination.][
]
Decline after 1950
Poor passenger business on the West Norfolk line resulted in closure to passengers; the last passenger trains ran on Saturday 31 May 1952; but a special Pilgrims' train ran from Kettering
Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...
to Walsingham
Walsingham () is a civil parish in North Norfolk, England, famous for its religious shrines in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. It also contains the ruins of two medieval Christian monasticism, monastic houses.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Exp ...
on 29 June 1952. Heavy flooding in early 1953 caused the line to be breached at Holkham
Holkham is a small village and civil parish in north Norfolk, England, which includes a stately home and estate, Holkham Hall, and a beach, Holkham Gap, at the centre of Holkham National Nature Reserve.
Geography
The parish has an area of and ...
. The line was not reinstated as it was only open to goods traffic; the stub from Heacham to Burnham Burnham may refer to:
Places Canada
*Burnham, Saskatchewan
England
*Burnham, Buckinghamshire
** Burnham railway station
** Burnham Grammar School
*Burnham Green, Hertfordshire, location of The White Horse
* Burnham, Lincolnshire
**High Burnham, ...
was retained for goods traffic, but was closed after 28 December 1964. The 1953 floods engulfed a train on the main line north of Heacham on 31 January 1953; the train was stranded, and the line was not repaired until 23 February 1953.[
On the main line, diesel multiple units were introduced from 3 November 1958, and through trains from Liverpool Street to Hunstanton were withdrawn in November 1960, the branch passenger service was operated as a shuttle from King's Lynn. Operation as a basic railway was brought in from 6 June 1966 in an attempt to contain costs.][
Hunstanton station was reduced to a single platform from 12 February 1967 and reductions in operating facilities followed when the one engine in steam system was instituted from Wolferton to Hunstanton on 5 March 1967. King's Lynn to Wolferton was reduced to single track on 2 April 1967 when the line was worked as a single section and a no-signalman key token instrument was placed at Hunstanton.][ Despite this an investment of £25,000 was made that year in the shape of automatic half-barrier level crossing gates. All freight was withdrawn on the line in 1964. The line closed on 5 May 1969.][Neil Burgess, ''Norfolk's Lost Railways'', Stenlake Publishing Ltd, Catrine, 2016, ][
]
Restoration efforts
There has been an ongoing interest in restoring the line. In 1993 the local council expressed interest in protecting the rail formation from development that could block restoration, but early efforts to re-open the line, endorsed by actor Bill Pertwee
William Desmond Anthony Pertwee, (21 July 1926 – 27 May 2013) was a British comedy actor. He played the role of Chief ARP Warden Hodges in the sitcom ''Dad's Army''.
Early life
Pertwee was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, on 21 July 1926 ...
, were met with hostility by several people who had purchased properties along the former route
In 2018 a formal campaign to restore the railway was launched. In September 2019 Norfolk County Council began a study into the restoration of the rail link between King's Lynn and Hunstanton, despite noting the challenges of any reconstruction.
A bid was made in November 2020 for funding from the second round of the Restoring Your Railway
The Beeching cuts were a reduction of route network and restructuring of British Rail in the 1960s. Since the mid-1990s there has been significant growth in passenger numbers on the railways and renewed government interest in the role of rail ...
fund. It was unsuccessful, with transport minister Chris Heaton-Harris
Christopher Heaton-Harris (born 28 November 1967) is an English politician who has served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland since 6 September 2022.
Early life and education
Born on 28 November 1967, Heaton-Harris attended the Tiffin ...
stating that the case needed strengthening, but that "the proposal has potential." In March 2021, a bid was submitted to restore the line from Kings Lynn to Hunstanton as part of the third round of the Restoring Your Railway fund. The King's Lynn Docks
King's Lynn Docks are located to the north of the town of King's Lynn in the English county of Norfolk.''OS Explorer Map 23” (Edition A 1997) – “Norfolk Coast West''. . They are on the River Great Ouse which provides access to the North Se ...
announced their support for the restoration of the line, coupled to the restoration of the dock's railway branch.
Despite the implied support of the 1993 protection of the route, the ongoing efforts to restore the line and national level listing of the project, a public house was allowed to be constructed on the formation at Hunstanton and in 2020 plans were released for flats to be built on the former station site.
Topography
Main line:
* Lynn; opened 27 October 1846; relocated 27 August 1871; renamed King's Lynn 1911;
* ''Salters Road Junction''; connection to the Alexandra Dock branch;
* ''Gaywood Junction''; former divergence of the Lynn and Fakenham Railway;
* Wootton; opened 3 October 1862; renamed North Wootton July 1869; closed 5 May 1969;
* Wolverton; opened 3 October 1862; renamed Wolferton 15 July 1863; closed 5 May 1969;
* Dersingham; opened 3 October 1862; closed 5 May 1969;
* Snettisham; opened 3 October 1862; closed 5 May 1969;
* Heacham; opened 3 October 1862; closed 5 May 1969;
* Hunstanton; opened 3 October 1862; closed 5 May 1969;
Extension:
* Heacham; above;
* Sedgeford; opened 17 August 1866; closed 2 June 1952;
* Docking; opened 17 August 1866; closed 2 June 1952;
* Stanhoe; opened 17 August 1866; closed 2 June 1952;
* Burnham; opened 17 August 1866; renamed Burnham Market 1 June 1883; closed 2 June 1952;
* Holkham; opened 17 August 1866; closed 2 June 1952;
* Wells; opened by Wells and Fakenham Railway 1 December 1857; renamed Wells-on-Sea 1 July 1923; renamed Wells-next-the-Sea 1 January 1957; closed 5 October 1964.[M E Quick, ''Railway Passenger Stations in England Scotland and Wales—A Chronology'', The Railway and Canal Historical Society, 2002][
]
References
{{reflist
External links
1962 John Betjeman film of Kings Lynn to Hunstanton journey
Rail transport in Norfolk