Denmark Hill railway station

Denmark Hill is an interchange station between the Windrush line of the London Overground and National Rail services on the Catford loop line, located in Denmark Hill in South London. It is 4 miles 22 chains (6.9 km) down the line from London Victoria. The station is located in Travelcard Zone 2 and is managed by Thameslink. The station receives services operated by Southeastern and Thameslink in addition to the London Overground.

Denmark Hill
Denmark Hill Location of Denmark Hill in Greater London
Location	Denmark Hill
Local authority	London Borough of Southwark
Managed by	Thameslink
Station code(s)	DMK
DfT category	D
Number of platforms	4
Accessible	Yes[1]
Fare zone	2
National Rail annual entry and exit
2019–20	6.817 million[2]
– interchange	0.582 million[2]
2020–21	2.343 million[2]
– interchange	0.182 million[2]
2021–22	4.597 million[2]
– interchange	0.380 million[2]
2022–23	5.554 million[2]
– interchange	0.483 million[2]
2023–24	5.814 million[2]
– interchange	0.504 million[2]
Railway companies
Original company	London, Brighton & South Coast Railway
Key dates
1 December 1865	Opened (LCDR)
13 August 1866	Opened (LBSCR)
Listed status
Listed feature	Denmark Hill Station, cutting walls and platforms, with Phoenix and Firkin public house
Listing grade	Grade II listed
Entry number	1386053[3]
Added to list	17 September 1998
Other information
External links	Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51.4683°N 0.0894°W / 51.4683; -0.0894
London transport portal

History

A 1908 Railway Clearing House map of lines around Denmark Hill

The station was built between 1864 and 1866. Its design by Charles Henry Driver is in the Italianate style, with an extremely decorative frontage and French pavilion roofs.^[4]

In 1920 the waiting room was used by The Mystical Church of the Comforter, founded by Elizabeth Mary Eagle Skinner, who was known as "The Messenger". The waiting room was transformed by an altar, painted white and surrounded by the seven colours of the rainbow.^[5] The Nottingham Evening Post for 17 June 1926 reported that babies were baptised, funeral services were read and even a marriage was solemnised. The porters and clerks of the railway company often worked to the accompaniment of hymns sung by the congregation.^[6] The church is believed to have ceased to function after the death of Skinner in November 1929.

By the late 1970s, the structure had fallen into disrepair. Arsonists burst into the booking hall in March 1980, and the ensuing fire damaged the roof. Initial work by British Rail engineers to make the building safe by demolishing parts of the remaining building triggered a protest campaign by the Camberwell Society. Following a joint initiative between them, the Southwark Environment Trust and the British Rail Director of the Environment, Bernard Kaukas, the building was restored in 1985.^[7]

The project included the addition of a public house, initially called the Phoenix and Firkin to commemorate the fire, then called O'Neills and now the Phoenix. The building was given a Civic Trust award in 2009.^{[citation needed]}

In the period 2011–2013 the station underwent a redesign with the construction of a new ticket office with access from Champion Park, new walkways and lifts to the platforms.^[8]

In September 2021, a second entrance opened on the north-eastern side of the station.^[9][10]

Design

Denmark Hill Platform 1 & 2

The platforms are below road level, with the short Grove Tunnel at one end and Denmark Hill road bridge at the other.

Services

v t e London Overground
Cheshunt Theobalds Grove Enfield Town Turkey Street Romford Bush Hill Park Southbury Emerson Park Upminster Edmonton Green Silver Street Chingford White Hart Lane Highams Park Watford Junction Bruce Grove Wood Street Watford Seven Sisters Walthamstow Central High Street Harringay Blackhorse Road Walthamstow Queen's Road Bushey Green Lanes Carpenders Park Crouch Hill South Tottenham St. James Leyton Midland Road Hatch End Upper () Stamford Hill Street Leytonstone Headstone Lane Holloway Stoke Newington Clapton High Road Harrow & Kentish Town West Rectory Road Wanstead Park () Wealdstone Gospel Oak Camden Road () Hackney Woodgrange Park () Kenton () Caledonian Road Canonbury Downs Barking South Kenton & Barnsbury Barking Riverside () North Highbury & Islington Dalston Kingsland Hackney Central Wembley Hampstead Heath Dalston Wembley Finchley Road & Frognal () Junction London Fields Central West Hampstead ( ) Haggerston Cambridge Homerton Stonebridge Brondesbury Hoxton Heath Hackney Wick Park Brondesbury Park Shoreditch High Street Bethnal Green Stratford Harlesden Kensal Rise Kensal Green Liverpool Whitechapel Willesden Queen's Park Street Shadwell () Junction Kilburn High Road Wapping South Hampstead Rotherhithe Shepherd's Bush () Euston () Canada Water Kensington (Olympia) Surrey Quays West Brompton Battersea Park Imperial Wharf () (limited service) New Cross Clapham Queens Road Peckham New Cross Gate Junction Peckham Rye Brockley Acton Central Wandsworth Road Denmark Hill Honor Oak Park South Acton () Clapham Forest Hill Gunnersbury High Street Sydenham Kew Gardens Richmond Crystal Palace Penge West Anerley Norwood Junction West Croydon ()
Legend
Station National Rail Liberty line Accessible station Thameslink Lioness line Interchange station Elizabeth line Mildmay line Accessible interchange Docklands Light Railway Suffragette line Internal interchange London Underground Weaver line Out-of-station interchange London Trams Windrush line (   ) Nearby interchange London River Services The new London Overground line names and colours were introduced across the London rail network in November 2024

Services at Denmark Hill are operated by London Overground (on the Windrush line), Southeastern and Thameslink using Class 375, 376, 377, 378, 465, 466 and 700 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[11][12]

• 3 tph to London Victoria
• 2 tph to London Blackfriars
• 2 tph to Sevenoaks via Catford
• 2 tph to Dartford via Bexleyheath
• 1 tph to Gillingham via Chatham
• 4 tph to Clapham Junction (Windrush line)
• 4 tph to Dalston Junction via Surrey Quays (Windrush line)

During the peak hours, additional services between Orpington, Kentish Town and Luton call at the station. In addition, the service to London Blackfriars is extended to and from Welwyn Garden City via Finsbury Park and the services between London Victoria and Gillingham are increased to 2 tph.

The station is also served by a limited London Overground service of one train per day to and two trains per day from Battersea Park.

On Sundays, the services to Gillingham are extended to run to and from Dover Priory.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Elephant & Castle		Thameslink Catford Loop Line		Peckham Rye
London Victoria		Southeastern Greenwich Park Branch Line
Elephant & Castle Peak Hours Only
London Victoria		Southeastern Chatham Main Line		Bromley South
				Crofton Park Peak Hours Only
Preceding station	London Overground			Following station
Clapham High Street towards Clapham Junction		Windrush line South London line		Peckham Rye towards Dalston Junction
Disused railways
East Brixton		British Rail Southern Region South London Line		Peckham Rye

Layout

The station is on two lines. The South London line passes through the southern pair of tracks (through platforms 1 and 2) running to London Victoria and Clapham Junction, used by Windrush line services; while the Catford loop line passes through the northern pair of tracks (through platforms 3 and 4) running to London Blackfriars and beyond to the Thameslink core and Victoria.

• Platform 1: Windrush line (London Overground) services to Clapham Junction; Southeastern services to London Victoria.
• Platform 2: Windrush line (London Overground) services to Dalston Junction or Highbury & Islington; Southeastern services to Dover Priory or Gillingham.
• Platform 3: Thameslink services to Kentish Town, London Blackfriars, Luton and Welwyn Garden City.
• Platform 4: Thameslink services to Orpington or Sevenoaks; Southeastern services to Ashford International or Dartford.

Connections

London Buses routes 40, 176, 185 and 484 serve the station.^[13]

See also

• Camberwell a disused station is located nearby