Cumwhinton railway station

Cumwhinton railway station was a railway station serving the village of Cumwhinton in Cumbria, England. The station was located on the Settle and Carlisle Line and was closed in 1956. The station is still intact, including platforms, and the station buildings are now grade II listed structures.

Cumwhinton railway station
46229 Duchess of Hamilton passes the closed Cumwhinton station
General information
Location	England
Coordinates	54.8698°N 2.8520°W / 54.8698; -2.8520
Grid reference	NY454531
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 May 1876	Station opened
5 November 1956	Station closed
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated	9 March 1984
Reference no.	1335564[1]

History

The station was designed by John Holloway Sanders, who designed many of the other stations on the Settle–Carlisle line.^[2] It was listed as being a small (or minor) station in the original Midland Railway plans.^[3] It was opened with the rest of the on the initial opening of the line in May 1876^[4] and had its station buildings on the down line (towards Carlisle). The station is 4 miles (6.4 km) south east of Carlisle^[5] and 304 miles (489 km) north of St Pancras railway station in London, via Cudworth and Keighley.^[6] The station was afforded a three-road goods shed on the down side^[7] and a signal box just north of the station which closed in 1957.^[8]

The main station building is made of red sandstone with a slate roof, is privately owned & occupied and is now a grade II listed structure.^[1] Additionally, the Midland Railway provided four railway cottages for workers besides the traditional stationmaster's house.^[9]

There have been petitions and public appeals to re-open the station to passenger traffic.^[10]

Stationmasters

The first station master John Lambert was arrested in 1877 on a charge of conspiring with Edwin Westerman, superintendent of the permanent way, Thomas Errick, inspector of the permanent way, and George Mason Tickle, brick manufacturer, in the theft of 4,000 bricks, the property of the Midland Railway Company.^[11] The case was heard at the Manchester Assizes before Mr. Justice Lush. John Lambert was allowed by the Midland Railway to combine his position as stationmaster at Cumwhinton with that of coal merchant. The charge against him was that instead of sending his coal by the money-earning trains of the company, he sent them by the ballast train, which earned the railway company no revenue.^[12] The jury found that the station master, who had been guilty of irregularities, had not they thought committed a punishable offence and he was discharged.^[13]

• John Lambert 1876 - 1877^[14] (taken into custody 3/10/77)
• William J. Stowell 1878 - 1886^[15] (formerly station master at Crosby Garrett)
• G. Barker 1886 - 1891^[15] (formerly station master at Little Salkeld, afterwards station master at Melbourne)
• Isaac Scott 1891^[15] - 1915
• W.S. Balfour from 1915^[16]
• J.H. Ashton from 1945^[17] (formerly station master at Willaston)

References

1. Historic England. "Cumwhinton Station (Grade II) (1335564)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
2. "Notes by the Way". The Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 1 November 1884. Retrieved 23 August 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. Baughan 1987, p. 179.
4. Mussett 2016, p. 204.
5. Padgett, David; Szwenk, John (2013). Bridge, Mike (ed.). Railway track diagrams. book 4, Midlands & North West (3 ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. 34C. ISBN 978-0-9549866-7-4.
6. Jackson, Allen (2018). Midland Railway Stations. Stroud: Amberley. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-4456-8043-9.
7. Jenkinson, D (1980). Rails in the Fells : a railway case study : an account of the origins, characteristics, and contribution of a railway to the landscape, together with an attempt to evaluate its past and present influence on the area through which it passes (2 ed.). Beer, Devon: Peco. p. 114. ISBN 0900586532.
8. Mussett 2016, p. 232.
9. Mussett 2016, p. 238.
10. Jackson, Allen (2015). Contemporary Perspective on LMS Railway Signalling Vol 1. Stroud: Amberley. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-78500-026-3.
11. "The Great Railway Frauds". Craven Herald. England. 6 October 1877. Retrieved 15 March 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "The Frauds on the Midland Railway". Penrith Observer. England. 20 November 1877. Retrieved 15 March 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
13. "The Midland Railway Frauds". Shields Daily Gazette. England. 17 November 1877. Retrieved 15 March 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
14. "1871-1879 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 731. 1871. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
15. "1881-1898 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 31. 1881. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
16. "Midland Staff Promotions". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. England. 28 January 1915. Retrieved 13 March 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
17. "Willaston Stationmaster's Appointment". Nantwich Chronicle. England. 18 August 1945. Retrieved 13 March 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Sources

• Baughan, Peter (1987). The Midland Railway North of Leeds (2 ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8852-5.
• Mussett, Nigel (2016). Directory of Resources (Settle Carlisle Railway) (PDF) (Report). Settle: The Settle-Carlisle Railway Development Company Limited.

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Cotehill		Midland Railway Settle-Carlisle Railway		Scotby