The York, Hull and East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway was a proposed railway line, promoted in the mid 1840s, intended to connect

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

to the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

, England. The line was not built, instead an alternative proposal, the

York and North Midland Railway The York and North Midland Railway (Y&NMR) was an English railway company that opened in 1839 connecting York with the Leeds and Selby Railway, and in 1840 extended this line to meet the North Midland Railway at Normanton near Leeds. Its first c ...

York to Beverley Line York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a m ...

gained parliamentary approval in 1846, and was opened in two sections in 1847 and 1865.

History

The railway line, proposed during the

Railway Mania Railway Mania was an instance of a stock market bubble in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the 1840s. It followed a common pattern: as the price of railway shares increased, speculators invested more money, which further incre ...

, planned to connect to the proposed ''

Leeds and York Railway The Leeds and York Railway was a proposed railway line, promoted in the mid 1840s, intended to connect York and Leeds. The line lost a significant promoter, the Manchester and Leeds Railway in 1845/6 as a result of a non-competition arrangemen ...

'' at York, and serve destinations in the eastern

Vale of York The Vale of York is an area of flat land in the northeast of England. The vale is a major agricultural area and serves as the main north–south transport corridor for Northern England. The Vale of York is often supposed to stretch from the R ...

and

. From York the line was to run east to

Pocklington Pocklington is a market town and civil parish situated at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded its population as 8,337. It is east of York and northwest of Hull. The town's sk ...

Market Weighton Market Weighton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is one of the main market towns in the East Yorkshire Wolds and lies midway between Hull and York, about from either one. According to the 2011 UK cen ...

, and

Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...

, then by the east side of the

River Hull The River Hull is a navigable river in the East Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England. It rises from a series of springs to the west of Driffield, and enters the Humber Estuary at Kingston upon Hull. Following a period when the Archbishops of ...

via Weel and

Stoneferry Stoneferry (''archaic'' Stone-Ferry, or Stone ferry) is a suburb of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was formerly a small hamlet on the east bank of the River Hull, the site of a ferry, and, after 1905, a bridge. The are ...

south to the new East Docks ( Victoria Dock) in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

. Branches from the line were planned to

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, with a population at the 2011 census of 14,731. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until ...

via Holme upon Spalding Moor from Market Weighton; to

Driffield Driffield, also known as Great Driffield, is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The civil parish is formed by the town of Driffield and the village of Little Driffield. By road, it is north-east of Leeds ...

from Holme upon Spalding Moor via a crossing of the

Yorkshire Wolds The Yorkshire Wolds are low hills in the counties of the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in north-eastern England. The name also applies to the district in which the hills lie. On the western edge, the Wolds rise to an escarpment wh ...

in the vicinity of

Nunburnholme Nunburnholme is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is approximately east of the market town of Pocklington. The civil parish is formed by the village of Nunburnholme and the hamlet of Kilnwick Percy. Accor ...

and Warter; and a branch to

Hornsea Hornsea is a seaside town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The settlement dates to at least the early medieval period. The town was expanded in the Victorian era with the coming of the Hull ...

running eastwards from a junction off the main line near Weel.

London Gazette London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

(15 November 1845) The ''York, Hull and East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway Company'' was provisionally registered in 1845, and the line, together with the

was supported by the

Manchester and Leeds Railway The Manchester and Leeds Railway was a British railway company that built a line from Manchester to Normanton where it made a junction with the North Midland Railway, over which it relied on running powers to access Leeds. The line followed the ...

. The route invaded an area which at that time was exclusively served by the

(Y&NMR), and passed through an area which had already been surveyed for a railway by the Y&NMR. In an attempt to preserve its

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

, in 1845, the Y&NMR began proceedings for bills before parliament for equivalent lines between York, Market Weighton and Beverley; Market Weighton and Selby; Market Weighton and Driffield (as a line from junctions at

Goodmanham Goodmanham (historically Godmundingaham, the home of the people of Godmund mentioned in the year 627 in Bede's ''Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum'' ) is a small village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situa ...

and Cranswick); and to Hornsea from a junction at

Leconfield Leconfield is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, about north-west of Beverley town centre on the A164 road. The civil parish consists of Leconfield, the village of Arram and the hamlet of Scorborough. The 2011 ...

; The York and Hull company also initiated its bill in 1845, with the line from York to Hull, and its branches to Hornsea, Driffield and Selby. The Manchester and Leeds company were persuaded to withdraw their support from the rival scheme in exchange for an agreement to make them joint lessors of the

Hull and Selby Railway The Hull and Selby Railway is a railway line between Kingston upon Hull and Selby in the United Kingdom which was authorised by an act of 1836 and opened in 1840. As built the line connected with the Leeds and Selby Railway (opened 1834) at Selby ...

. The Y&NMR's parliamentary proposals were successful, resulting in the 'York and North Midland Rly. (East Riding Branches) o.1Act'' of 1846, which enabled the construction of line from York to Beverley, opened to Market Weighton in 1847, the remainder being completed in 1865. A second act in 1846 enabled the construction of the Selby to Market Weighton Line.

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

*{{citation, url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C3437251, title = York, Hull and East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway Company, work = National Archives Abandoned rail transport projects in the United Kingdom Rail transport in the East Riding of Yorkshire