Station Name: HORNSEA TOWN

[Source: Mark Dyson]

Date opened: 28.3.1864
Location: On the west side of Railway Road
Company on opening: Hull and Hornsea Railway
Date closed to passengers: 19.10.1964
Date closed completely: 19.10.1964
Company on closing: British Railways (Eastern Region)
Present state: Main station building and attached Station Master's House has been converted into housing; (late 1980's) housing occupies the site of the excursion platforms; access to these is via Station Court which occupies the trackbed.
County: Yorkshire
OS Grid Ref: TA208477
Date of visit: 28.5.1975, August 1985 & May 1991
Notes: Hornsea Town was the terminus of the Hull and Hornsea Railway, located around 100 yards from the sea. The fine station buildings were designed by Rawlins Gould, originally a canopy covered the main platform and track , being attached to the station buildings and supported on cast iron columns on the outer side. The building is similar in appearance to
York and North Midland Railway structures, no doubt due to the fact that Gould had previously been employed by George Townsend Andrews, the YNMR architect. There was one long main platform adjacent to the buildings, with an equally long island platform for excursions. The station was opened as Hornsea with Town added from 25.9.1950.

The station stood derelict but intact until 1987 when work began to convert the station buildings into housing; the excursion platforms were removed and new houses built on the site. A new access road was built on the trackbed.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE HULL & HORNSEA RAILWAY
A line connecting the Hull-Scarborough branch at Arram to a site near Hornsea Mere had been proposed in 1846/7 by the York and North Midland Railway but never built due to the downfall of chairman George Hudson amidst a financial scandal.

A new line connecting Hull and Hornsea was promoted by Hornsea resident and Hull timber merchant Joseph Armytage Wade, the aim of such a line being to develop Hornsea as a fashionable Victorian seaside resort.

The first sod was turned by Wade on 8.10.1862. Problems were encountered during construction due to the nature of the local soil; there were further issues with poor workmanship and materials used by the contractors. A late change of plan saw the line extended from the proposed terminus at Hornsea Bridge to the seafront; this meant construction of an
embankment which required the ground to be piled adding substantially to the already escalating construction costs.


Opened on 28.3.1864, the line ran in a fairly direct North Easterly direction from Hull, the original Hull terminus was Wilmington station, though after 1st June 1864 trains ran via the Victoria Dock branch into Hull's Paragon station. Due to lower than expected receipts and consequent financial difficulties, the Hull and Hornsea Railway merged with the North Eastern
Railway on 16.7.1866.

The line was constructed as a single track but was doubled throughout in the early 1900s. Diesel railcars were introduced from 71.1957 and operated local services from that date. Centralised Traffic Control (automated signaling and level crossings) was proposed in the early 1960's, but this was overtaken by the 'Beeching Report'. Closure to passengers came
on 19.10.1964, with Goods services to Hornsea Bridge continuing until 3.5.1965.

Tickets from Michael Stewart

Today, the trackbed of the railway forms the 'Hornsea Rail Trail', also part of the 'Trans Pennine Trail'- the majority of station buildings still exist and the trackbed is virtually complete throughout.

Further reading 'The Lost Railways of Holderness' by Peter Price (Hutton Press)
ISBN 0 0907033 86 5. Route map drawn by Alan Young.

To see the other stations on the Hull & Hornsea Railway click on the station name: Sutton-on-Hull, Swine, Skirlaugh, Ellerby (1st station),
Ellerby (2nd station), Whitedale, Sigglesthorne, Wassand & Hornsea Bridge



Hornsea Station in the early 20th Century
Copyright photo from John Alsop collection



A DMU waiting in Platform 3 ar Hornsea Town in the late 1950's
Photo by Neville Stead


Hornsea Town Station Station forecourt in May 1975
Copyright photo from Nigel Mundy collection

Hornsea Town Station seen from the excursion platform in August 1985
P
hoto by Mark Dyson

Hornsea Town station taken from the same viewpoint as the picture above but after restoration.
(May 1991)
P
hoto by Mark Dyson

Hornsea Town station forecourt in June 2010
P
hoto by Norman Booth


 

 

 

[Source: Mark Dyson]


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