Notes: When Marfleet station opened on 27 June 1854 it had a single platform on the up side of the line with a short siding running behind the east end of the platform. The two-storey station building (and single storey extension) which incorporated the stationmaster's house, booking office and the village Post Office was built of brick with a pitched slate roof and stood in the centre of the platform with a forecourt opposite the end of Marfleet Avenue.
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When the line was doubled in the early 20th century a second down platform was provided, the original platform was lengthened and became the up platform. A waiting shelter was provided on the down platform with a signal box on the platform near the west end which controlled access to the goods yard. The original siding was removed when the station was enlarged with |
a new siding running diagonally across the yard at the east end of the station. The station only had basic goods facilities and didn't handle livestock.
Marfleet was one of the quieter stations on the line with 3946 tickets sold in 1911. The station downgraded to an unstaffed halt from 4 January 1960 finally losing its passenger service on 19 October 1964. Goods services east of Marfleet were withdrawn in 1968 but an engineering works just east of Marfleet station continued to be rail served until 1972 and Marfleet remained open for goods traffic until 1 May 1972. The track was lifted shortly after that date.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE HULL &
HOLDERNESS RAILWAY
The Hull and Holderness Railway was promoted by Hull merchant
Anthony Bannister with the objective of linking the industrial
port of Hull with the rich agricultural land of South Holderness;
parts of the South Holderness area had previously been accessible
via the river Humber at Hedon and Patrington Havens, but these
had begun to silt up. A secondary objective was to develop a
seaside resort on the coast in much the same way as the York
and North Midland Railway had begun to develop Scarborough and
Whitby. The coast between Tunstall and Easington was surveyed
and Withernsea chosen to be the terminus of the line and hence
the new resort.
Receiving Royal assent on 8.7.1853 the line was extremely easy
to construct as the South Holderness area is very flat and ballast
could be extracted close to the line at Kelsey Hill near Burstwick;
the line opened on 30.6.1854 with a Hull terminus at Victoria
Dock station. The railway was initially completely independent
and operated its own rolling stock, |
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however it was too small
to survive independently and on 1.1.1860 the line was leased
to the NER which then bought the line outright on 7.7.1862.
Trains began running into Hull's Paragon station via the Victoria
Dock branch on 1.6.1864.
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The line was constructed as a single track, but was doubled
in the early 20th Century. Single line sections remained between
Hedon and Ryehill and Burstwick stations and further east between
Ottringham and Winestead until closure. Diesel railcars were
introduced on 7.1.1957 and further cost cutting in the form
of Centralised Traffic Control (automated |
signaling and level
crossings) were proposed in the early 1960's only to be overtaken
by the 'Beeching Report' of 1962 which proposed closure of the
line.
The Hull-Withernsea line closed to passengers on 19.10.1964
(the same day as the neighbouring Hull-Hornsea branch) with
goods services lasting until 30.4.1965. Goods services to Hedon
continued until 1968.
Today several sections of trackbed are in use as a footpath/cycleway
with much of the formation intact. With the exception of the
Withernsea terminus, all the station buildings remain, mainly
in residential use.
Further reading 'The
Lost Railways of Holderness' by Peter Price (Hutton Press)
ISBN 0 0907033 86 5
Tickets from Michael Stewart, route map drawn by Alan Young, Bradshaw from Nick Catford
Click here to see a film of a journey along the branch from Hull to Withernsea in 1957
To see the other
stations on the Hull - Withernsea line click on the station
name: Hedon
Racecourse, Hedon,
Ryehill
& Burstwick, Keyingham,
Ottringham, Winestead,
Patrington, Hollym
Gate & Withernsea
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