Southwell railway station was a railway station that served the minster town of Southwell in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, England from 1847 to 1959.

History

The station at Southwell opened on 1 July 1847 as a branch line from the Nottingham and Lincoln Railway at Rolleston Junction. In its early years, the passenger service was horse-worked. In 1862 gas lighting was introduced. In 1871 the line was extended to Mansfield by the contractors Eckersley and Baylis (using cast iron bridges built by

Andrew Handyside and Company Andrew Handyside and Company was an iron founder in Derby, England, in the nineteenth century. Biography Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1805, Handyside worked in his uncle Charles Baird's engineering business in St. Petersburg before takin ...

of Derby). 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 ...

took the opportunity to rebuild the station building and stationmaster's house in stone and the platform shelters, and dismantle the original wooden station building, which was re-erected at

Beeston railway station Beeston railway station is a Grade II listed railway station on the Midland Main Line which serves the town of Beeston in Nottinghamshire, England. It lies south-west of Nottingham railway station, and south-east of Beeston transport interc ...

. The Mansfield to Southwell section, which passed through a

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

area subject to

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope move ...

, was closed to passengers by the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

in 1929, the same year in which a north to south-west curve at Rolleston was opened to give direct access to the Fiskerton direction from the branch. The Southwell to Rolleston Junction section remained open to passengers until 1959, normally worked by a

push–pull train Push–pull is a configuration for locomotive-hauled trains, allowing them to be driven from either end of the train, whether having a locomotive at each end or not. A push–pull train has a locomotive at one end of the train, connected via ...

. Freight services ended in 1964.

Stationmasters

*J. Bailey, to 1860 *Samuel Whitehouse, 1860–1863 *I. Kilby, 1863–1865 *William Yeomans, from 1865 *Samuel Jacques, c. 1868 – c. 1876, former station master at Derby Nottingham Road *George Cherry, c. 1877–1878 *George Peck, 1878–1886, former station master at Tewkesbury and Ashchurch *Walter Scott, 1886–1903 *William Clapham, 1903–1910 *Thomas Maidens, c. 1914–1917, then stationmaster at Coalville *Frank Porter, c. 1918–1928 *Walter Scott, 1936–1939, former station master at Appleby *Arthur G. Sperry from 1939, former station master at South Witham

Present day

Today, the station is in use as both a private residence and a b&b. The old level crossing gate is still visible by the station building. A pub called "the Final Whistle" contains many railway memorabilia and relics. The trackbed back towards Mansfield forms a trail called "the Southwell Trail". The trackbed towards Rolleston is now occupied by housing developments and the route of the old railway to Rolleston is now occupied by a road. Rolleston Junction station remains open as

Rolleston Rolleston may refer to: Places * Rolleston, Queensland, Australia * Rolleston, Leicestershire, England * Rolleston, Nottinghamshire, England ** Rolleston railway station * Rolleston on Dove, Staffordshire, England ** Rolleston Hall * Rolleston, ...

. It is close to

Southwell Racecourse Southwell Racecourse (pronounced /ˈsʌðəl/ or /ˈsaʊθwɛl/) is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located east of Southwell in Nottinghamshire, England. It is one of only six racecourses in the UK to have an all-weather track and is one of ...

, about three miles (4.8 km) south-east of the town itself. Fiskerton is also an equal distance from the town.

References

{{Closed stations Nottinghamshire Disused railway stations in Nottinghamshire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1847 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1959 Former Midland Railway stations 1847 establishments in England Southwell, Nottinghamshire