Monument record 6294/3 - Higham Ferrers/Irthlinborough L.N.W.R. Station

Site of railway station on the Northampton and Peterborough branch line, opened in 1845, closed to passengers in 1964, and entirely in 1966.

{1} Northampton and Peterborough line of the London and North Western Railway. The line opened in 1845 and remained in use until 1969, although the station closed to passengers in 1959. The station was located one mile north of the town. From map analysis the alignment of the railway appears to survive well, although presumably without the track, this hasn't however been checked during the field visit.
Station on the border of the two parishes and appears on some maps as 'Irthlingborough' station and on others as 'Higham Ferrers' Station.
The railway architect John William Livock designed all the intermediate stations provided on the line. Six major stations had a unifying theme in their appearance - which was vaguely Elizabethan, but each one had its own individuality with use of different building materials - brick at Irthlingborough/Higham Ferrers.
Layout of station: main building comprised station master residence and ticket office was on 175 foot long 'down' (east bound) platform. Also a 550 foot curved siding serving the coal yard and a brick built goods shed, rail access to which was at right angles to the running lines and gained via a wagon turntable. The west of the platform was the standard LNWR signal box. Before the opening of the Nene viaduct (known locally as the New Bridge) in Oct 1936 the crossing controlled by this box used to carry the main London to Carlisle Road and was a notorious bottleneck even by 1920's standards.

{2} Irthlingborough Railway Station; north-east of A6 between Irthlingborough & Higham Ferrers; mostly destroyed by 1965.

<1> Ballinger J., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Industrial Period, (unchecked) (Digital archive). SNN4.

<2> Starmer G.H., 1982, National Register of Industrial Monuments, (part checked) (Catalogue). SNN563.

<3> Historic England, Undated, IRTHLINGBOROUGH STATION, CHELVESTON CUM CALDECOTT, BF017272 (Archive). SNN116228.

Record last edited

Mar 18 2024 9:09AM