Alresford railway station (Hampshire)

Alresford
Station on heritage railway
General information
Location	New Alresford England
Coordinates	51°05′16″N 1°09′35″W
Grid reference	SU587324
Operated by	Mid Hants Railway
Platforms	2, (3 on certain gala days when the Cattle Dock is used as platform 1A)
History
Original company	Alton, Alresford and Winchester Railway
Pre-grouping	London and South Western Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway Southern Region of British Railways
Key dates
2 October 1865	Opened
5 February 1973	Closed
30 April 1977	Reopened

Alresford railway station (/ˈɔːlsfərd/ or /ˈɒlzfərd/) in Hampshire, England, is the terminus of the Watercress Line from Alton. It is in the small town of New Alresford, 7½ miles (12 km) northeast of Winchester, close to the town's market square, tea rooms, many small shops and museum.

In official literature it is shown as Alresford (Hampshire) in order to distinguish it from the station of the same name in Essex.

History

In 1861, work started on the new Alton, Alresford and Winchester Railway which changed its name to the Mid-Hants Railway in 1865 with the line opening in the October of that year. It was bought by the London and South Western Railway in 1884, having operated it from the start. It was absorbed as part of that into the Southern Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The station then passed on to the Southern Region of British Railways upon nationalisation in 1948, and was then closed by the British Railways Board in February 1973.

Preservation

British Rail Class 205 approaching in 1970

The station reopened on 30 April 1977 as the western terminus of the Watercress Line, a heritage railway. Alongside the station a goods shed was built which is now used as a shop, as well as meeting and tourist facilities for the railway. Adjacent to the station is a large warehouse which was built in 1873 as a mill, later used as a factory it is now used for offices and is Grade II listed. The buffet building is the old station building from Lyme Regis in Dorset, which was dismantled and rebuilt here.

Following the closure of the route between Alton and Winchester, the line from Alresford eastwards to Alton has been reopened in preservation, but the section west of Alresford has not. It is unlikely that the line will ever be re-extended towards Winchester, because the M3 motorway and new houses have been built at various points along the former route.

Both platforms have been extended to hold four-coach trains plus the 'Cattle Dock' is used particularly during steam locomotive gala exhibitions as platform 1A, holding a two-coach train when not otherwise used.

Sources

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
• Station on navigable O.S. map

External links

• Watercress Railway site

Preceding station	Heritage railways			Following station
Ropley		Watercress Line		Terminus
	Historical railways
Ropley		London and South Western Railway Alton, Alresford and Winchester Railway		Itchen Abbas