Primrose Hill railway station

Primrose Hill was a railway station in Chalk Farm, in the London Borough of Camden, opened by the North London Railway as Hampstead Road in 1855. It was named Chalk Farm from 1862 until 1950, when it was given its final name. From the 1860s to 1915, it was linked with a formerly separate station opened by the London and North Western Railway in 1852. The station closed in 1992, and the platform buildings and canopies were removed in 2008.

Primrose Hill
Class 313 at the station in 1986
Primrose Hill is located in Greater London
Primrose Hill
Primrose Hill
Location of Primrose Hill in Greater London
LocationPrimrose Hill
Local authorityLondon Borough of Camden
Grid referenceTQ279843
Number of platforms2 (originally 4)
Railway companies
Original companyLondon and North Western Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and North Western Railway
Post-groupingLMS
Key dates
1852Opened (LNWR)
1855Opened (NLR)
1915Closed (LNWR)
1917Closed (NLR)
1922Re-opened (NLR)
1992Closed
2008Platform buildings demolished
Other information
WGS8451°32′35″N 0°09′17″W / 51.543179°N 0.154672°W / 51.543179; -0.154672
 London transport portal

History edit

Location of Primrose Hill station
 
 
 
 
 
 
South Hampstead
 
 
 
Primrose Hill tunnels
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Northern line Edgware branch
 
 
 
 
 
Chalk Farm
 
 
 
 
Primrose Hill
1855–1992
 
 
 
 
 
Hampstead Road
1851–1855
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
WCML to Euston
 
 
 
Northern line Barnet branch
 
 
Camden Town
 
 
 
Camden Road
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chalk Farm station on an 1895 Ordnance Survey map

The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) opened its station as Camden on 1 May 1852.[1] It replaced an earlier station of the same name to the south-east that had opened on 1 November 1851.[1] The station was the first station out of Euston on the West Coast Main Line. In 1866, the LNWR's station's name was changed to Camden (Chalk Farm) and it was resited to the north-west on 1 April 1872 to provide a better connection to the NLR's station.[1] In 1876, the name was changed to Chalk Farm to match the NLR's station.[2]

The North London Railway (NLR) opened the station as Hampstead Road on 5 May 1855, replacing an earlier station of the same name to the east.[1][a] The station was renamed Chalk Farm on 1 December 1862,[4] and resited to the west, with four new platforms completed on 24 May 1872.[1] From the 1860s the two stations were linked with a footbridge across the tracks. The LNWR platforms closed on 10 May 1915. The NLR platforms closed on 1 January 1917 for wartime economy measures.[1] On 10 July 1922 the NLR reopened two of its station platforms along with the LNWR's platforms.[5]

 
The station entrance in 1990

After the station's reopening in 1922, the passenger service was usually provided during peak hours only running between Broad Street and Watford Junction. After Broad Street closed in 1986 the service ran from Liverpool Street. The station was scheduled to close when the Liverpool Street to Watford Junction service was discontinued, but ended early due to flooding.[6] The last eastbound train called at Primrose Hill on 18 September 1992 and the last westbound train called on 22 September 1992.[7] The area is served by the nearby Chalk Farm station on the London Underground's Northern line.

On 25 September 1950, the station was renamed Primrose Hill.[8]

The station building was closed in 1987 but remains and is occupied by a business. It is on Regent's Park Road at one end of the footbridge over the railway tracks. The platform canopies and the buildings supporting them were demolished by Network Rail in December 2008.[9]

The nearby Primrose Hill Tunnels, East Portals, and the Western Entrance, have both been listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England since 1974.[10][11]

See also edit

Notes and references edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ The earlier station had been opened on 9 June 1851,[1] by the East & West India Docks and Birmingham Junction Railway,which was renamed the North London Railway on 1 January 1853.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Brown 2015, p. 58.
  2. ^ Brown 2015, index
  3. ^ Brown 2015, abbreviations
  4. ^ Butt 1995, pp. 57 & 113.
  5. ^ Brown 2015, index
  6. ^ Brown 2015, index
  7. ^ Brown 2015, index
  8. ^ Butt 1995, pp. 57 & 191.
  9. ^ "Disused rail station demolished". BBC News. BBC Online. 4 January 2009. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2009. Network Rail said the buildings had fallen into disrepair and the track was still live so, for safety reasons, they were demolished. Campaigners maintained the station should have been reopened to ease congestion on other lines.
  10. ^ Historic England, "Primrose Hill Tunnels (Eastern Portals) (1329904)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 20 February 2021
  11. ^ Historic England, "Primrose Hill Tunnels (Western Entrance) (1246989)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 20 February 2021

Sources edit

External links edit

  Media related to Primrose Hill railway station at Wikimedia Commons


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
South Hampstead   Network SouthEast
Watford Jct–Liverpool St (peak hours only, 1986–1992)
  Camden Road
  London North Western Railway
(1852-1915)
  Euston