Newick and Chailey railway station

Newick and Chailey
General information
Location	North Chailey, Lewes District, East Sussex England
Grid reference	TQ400210
Platforms	2
Construction
Architect	Thomas Myres
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Pre-grouping	London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway Southern Region of British Railways
Key dates
1 August 1882	Opened
29 May 1955	Closed
7 August 1956	reopened
17 March 1958	Closed

Newick and Chailey was a railway station located in North Chailey and located near the villages of Newick and Chailey in East Sussex, England. It was part of the East Grinstead to Lewes line, part of which now makes up the Bluebell Railway.

Facilities

The station was located on the single line, but consisted of two side platforms on a loop line. There were substantial station buildings on each platform with a pedestrian footbridge connecting the two. The old Up platform had a restaurant facility and toilets until rationalisation in the 1930s which removed all the buildings on this platform and the footbridge span.

Closure

Following the withdrawal of the services on the line in 1955, a Chailey resident, Margery Bessemer, forced its re-opening in 1956 for a short period when she discovered that the original Acts of Parliament which authorised the line's construction imposed a statutory obligation on British Railways to continue running services. British Railways responded by running the most meagre timetable possible, the so-called "Sulky Service". Parliament did eventually repeal the original Acts and the line closed in 1958.

The track was removed in 1960 and the station buildings were demolished around 1967–8. The site of the station platforms in a cutting was subsequently infilled and covered by housing. Short sections of the platforms have been excavated and preserved in the gardens of the houses on the former station site. Their site is identified in a road still today called Lower Station Road, North Chailey. Despite the reopening of part of the line by the Bluebell Railway, an extension south seems improbable, mostly due to the amount of resources it would take to reinstate the line, although the possibility has not been ruled out.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Sheffield Park Line closed, station open		London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Lewes and East Grinstead Railway		Barcombe Line and station closed

References

Media related to Newick and Chailey railway station at Wikimedia Commons