Southampton Terminus railway station served the Port of Southampton and

Southampton City Centre Southampton City Centre is the commercial and organisational centre of the City of Southampton, and the transport hub of the city. Because Southampton is on the South Coast of England, the city centre is not at the geometric centre of the city, ...

, England from 1839 until 1966. The station was authorised on 25 July 1834 and built as the terminus of the

London and Southampton Railway The London and Southampton Railway was an early railway company between London and Southampton, in England. It opened in stages from 1838 to 1840 after a difficult construction period, but was commercially successful. On preparing to serve Por ...

, which later changed its name to the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

(LSWR). The station opened as "Southampton" on 10 June 1839, although it was not officially operational until 11 May 1840, due to the track not being fully linked between

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

and

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

. The station building was constructed in 1839–40 to the design of Sir

William Tite Sir William Tite (7 February 179820 April 1873) was an English architect who twice served as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He was particularly associated with various London buildings, with railway stations and cemetery ...

. The LSWR added the much larger South Western Hotel building, designed by John Norton, in 1872. The line was extended into the Ocean Dock Terminal to allow

boat train A boat train is a passenger train operating to a port for the specific purpose of making connection with a passenger ship, such as a ferry, ocean liner, or cruise ship. Through ticketing is normally available. __NOTOC__ Notable named boat tr ...

s to terminate on the quayside.

History

Construction

A station for Southampton was authorised on 25 July 1834. The main building was designed by Sir

in the

Italianate style The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

, which was popular at the time for railway architecture (see which was built contemporaneously to Southampton). The building is now a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. The station building, which would be the terminus of the

, was the first to open in the city. It was opened as "Southampton" on 10 June 1839, although it was not officially operational until 11 May 1840, due to the track not being fully linked between

and

. During the building of the track between

Winchester railway station Winchester railway station is a railway station in Winchester in the county of Hampshire, England. It is on the South West Main Line and was known as Winchester City from 1949–67 to distinguish it from Winchester (Chesil) station. It is ...

and Basingstoke railway station, the London and Southampton Railway company changed its name to the

(LSWR). Initially the station had two platforms and an engine shed. The station did not originally handle passenger services because of a dispute over running rights. To overcome this, a small open platform at Northam Road was opened. Access was from Bridge Road level crossing which was demolished in 1882 when the new "Central Bridge" was built. This remains a major route into Southampton from Woolston; at both ends of the bridge are plaques dedicated to the railway. In 1847 engine sheds and a

turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

were built. During July 1858 Southampton was renamed "Southampton Docks" to distinguish it from Southampton West station. During the 1860s, additional sidings and sheds were built, followed by the Imperial Hotel.

Expansion

More development took place during the early 1870s when land on the station's eastern side was purchased, which allowed the railway to expand. Much larger goods sidings, a telegraph office and buildings for shipping businesses were built. At the same time the platforms were extended. The London and South Western Railway purchased more land during 1876, north of the terminus, and built new locomotive work sheds and a turntable. Three new platforms, two arranged as an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

, were opened 1891. The goods and parcel yard which were located at St. Lawrence Road were improved. In 1895 the old 1847 engine sheds were still heavily in use but as demand rose for goods, they were converted into a one-road depot for freight trains. The original turntable was replaced with an open turntable which had radiating roads, coal stage, water columns and crew

bothy A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are found in remote mountainous areas of Sco ...

. Over the years the turntable was repeatedly improved and eventually became a vacuum turntable, which was closed and removed in September 1966. During September 1896 the station was again renamed to "Southampton Town & Docks", later changing to "Southampton Town for Docks" in November 1912 and finally being renamed to "Southampton Terminus" on 9 July 1923. In the early 1900s, Southampton Terminus saw increased traffic from locations such as Reading, Alton, London and Portsmouth; and by 1905 traffic from the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

via the

Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DN&SR) was a cross-country railway running north–south between Didcot, Newbury and Winchester. Its promoters intended an independent route to Southampton and envisaged heavy traffic from the Midl ...

. Southampton Terminus is remembered for the many passengers of RMS ''Titanic'' who passed through it. Many of the ship's wealthy first class passengers stayed in the South Western Hotel before they boarded for their disastrous journey. Two platforms were removed to accommodate a private road between the railway station and the hotel. To make the station more comfortable for its users, a glass canopy was erected in 1924. Two years later in 1926 a new parcel and mail office was built. Around this time the station platform numbers were reversed and numbered from to left to right.

Engine sheds

Motive power depot The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine she ...

s were situated at Southampton Terminus Station and nearby in Southampton Docks. The first of these was opened 10 June 1839 by the

, but was demolished due to track widening. This was replaced by another structure adjacent to the goods shed, but this was closed in 1895. It was replaced by an outdoor servicing facility north of the station, which included a

coal stage A coaling tower, coal stage, coaling plant or coaling station is a facility used to load coal as fuel into railway steam locomotives. Coaling towers were often sited at motive power depots or locomotive maintenance shops. In the early years of ...

and offices. These remained open until 1966. An engine shed was opened in Southampton Docks, by the Southampton Docks Railway Company in 1865. It was rebuilt in 1879, and taken over by the London and South Western Railway in 1892. The building was enlarged and re-roofed by the Southern Railway during the 1930s and rebuilt by

British Railways 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 ...

in 1955. It was officially closed in January 1966, but remained in use until July 1967. The Southern Railway opened an outdoor locomotive servicing facility in the New Docks in 1933 and added a turntable in 1949. This remained in use until 1966.

Hotel

Standing at the southern end of the station was the "Imperial Hotel", which was later renamed as "South Western Hotel". During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, the hotel was acquired by the military and became HMS ''Shrapnel''.

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

and

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War I ...

reportedly discussed the

Invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

in one of the small public rooms on the first floor.

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was th ...

also reportedly visited the hotel and danced in the Wedgwood Ballroom. After the war it was renamed "South Western House" and was converted to offices. In 1961 the BBC opened a new BBC South region and used the former ballroom of the hotel as the main studio for their local news programme until 1991. The building was converted into private flats in 1998.

Closure

The station closed for passengers and parcels on 5 September 1966 prior to electrification between

London Waterloo Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station o ...

and

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...

, when neither Northam station nor Southampton Terminus were included in the upgrade. The mail offices closed in December of the following year, transferring their work to Southampton Central. By December 1968 most of the track had been removed. In 1970 the remaining signal box and track work was removed and the running lines filled in to platform level to act as a car park. After closure, all services were redirected to , which remains the main station for the city.

Current usage

The former Terminus station building is now a casino operated the

Genting Group The Genting Group is a company headquartered in the Wisma Genting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It comprises the holding company Genting Berhad (), its listed subsidiaries Genting Malaysia Berhad (), Genting Plantations Berhad (), Genting Singapore ...

. The South Western Hotel has been converted into private apartments. The private road into what would be the platforms is now a car park. Of the platforms, all that remains is the glass canopy and a single line that runs from Northam junction to the Queen Elizabeth II Cruise Terminal.

Reopening plans

A £10 million plan was put forward in 1999 to reopen Southampton Terminus and Northam station, which was to have been controlled by the

Anglia Railways Anglia Railways was a train operating company in England, owned by GB Railways and later FirstGroup, that operated the Anglia franchise from January 1997 until March 2004. History The InterCity Anglia franchise was awarded by the Director of Pa ...

train operating company. The plans included building a new rail-link using the remaining track by St. Mary's Stadium and as far as the waterfront, which is now safeguarded by

Southampton City Council Southampton City Council is the local authority of the city of Southampton. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including c ...

for future rail links. It was also hoped it would reduce the traffic around Southampton with a local commuter line linking the Waterfront to

Romsey Romsey ( ) is a historic market town in the county of Hampshire, England. Romsey was home to the 17th-century philosopher and economist William Petty and the 19th-century British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, whose statue has stood in the ...

, Halterworth and

Chandler's Ford Chandler's Ford (originally The Ford and historically Chandlersford) is a largely residential area and civil parish in the Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. It has a population of 21,436 in the 2011 UK Census. Chandler's Ford lies on ...

. The plans were thwarted after

South West Trains Stagecoach South Western Trains Limited, trading as South West Trains (SWT), was an English train operating company owned by Stagecoach, which operated the South Western franchise between February 1996 and August 2017. SWT operated the majorit ...

changed their 1999 time table, which resulted in two of Southampton Central's four tracks being blocked for about 20 minutes of each hour, resulting in capacity issues. Southampton City Council has safeguarded the remaining land for future use to build a small railway station on the former down line at Canute Road level crossing, opposite the former Southampton Terminus railway station. The project is named TI4 Waterfront Station.

References

Sources: * *

External links

Disused Stations – Southampton Terminus Southampton City Council – TI4 Waterfront Station
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southampton Terminus Railway Station Grade II* listed buildings in Hampshire Grade II* listed railway stations Disused railway stations in Southampton Former London and South Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1840 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1966 William Tite railway stations