Mill Hill railway station (Isle of Wight)

Mill Hill (Isle of Wight) railway station
The site of the former station in 2018, now a small park (Arctic Park). Looking north-west along the course of the old track, the platform was on the left. The blocked-up tunnel entrance can be seen at the far end of the park.
General information
LocationSouthern suburbs of Cowes, Isle of Wight
England
Grid referenceSZ497954
Platforms1
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Pre-groupingCowes and Newport Railway (1862-1887)
Isle of Wight Central Railway (1887 to 1923)
Post-groupingSouthern Railway (1923 to 1948)
Southern Region of British Railways (1948 to 1966)
Key dates
1871Opened
21 February 1966Closed
A 1914 Railway Clearing House map of lines around The Isle of Wight.

Mill Hill railway station is a disused station in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

History edit

It opened in 1871[1] and was first seen as the down train from the main Cowes railway station emerged from the 208 yard tunnel along the curving platform,[2] the sweep still visible in 2005[3] on a small area of grass where the demolished station[4] once stood.[5] Unlike many of the Island's railway stations, Mill Hill was busy at the beginning and end of each working day, depositing and picking up hundreds of workmen from shipyards.[6]

Conversely, after passenger closure in 1966 a single employee spent six months on duty at the crossing just past the station with not one chance to open it,[7] although freight traffic continued to Medina Wharf for a few months after passenger trains were withdrawn.

Stationmasters edit

  • William Henry Strawn ca. 1879[8] ca. 1880 (afterwards station master at Haven Street)
  • John William Gibbs ca. 1896[9]
  • F. Williams ca. 1910
  • Percy Hawkins ca. 1920


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Medina Wharf   British Rail
Southern Region

IoW CR : Newport to Cowes line
  Cowes

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Railway Passenger Stations by M.Quick page 316
  2. ^ Pomeroy, C. A. (1993). Isle of Wight Railways, Then and Now. Oxford: Past & Present Publishing. ISBN 0-947971-62-9.
  3. ^ Catford, Nick. "Mill Hill". Disused Stations.
  4. ^ Built in 1880 Hay, P. (1988). Steaming Through the Isle of Wight. Midhurst: Middleton. ISBN 0-906520-56-8.
  5. ^ Gammell, C. J. (1997). Southern Branch Lines. Oxford: OPC. ISBN 0-86093-537-X.
  6. ^ Paye, Peter (1984). Isle of Wight Railways remembered. Oxford: OPC. ISBN 0-86093-212-5.
  7. ^ Hughie White, quoted in Britton, A. (1994). Once Upon a Line. Vol. 4. Oxford: OPC. ISBN 0-86093-513-2.
  8. ^ "County Bench". Isle of Wight Observer. England. 18 October 1879. Retrieved 28 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "Obstructing a Central Railway Official". Isle of Wight County Press and South of England Reporter. England. 17 October 1896. Retrieved 28 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.

External links edit

50°45′26″N 1°17′50″W / 50.7573°N 1.2973°W / 50.7573; -1.2973