Norwich Victoria railway station

Norwich Victoria was a railway station in Norwich in Norfolk and the former terminus of the Great Eastern Main Line. There were at one time three railway stations in Norwich, the others being Norwich City and Norwich Thorpe. Currently, only the former Thorpe station, now known simply as "Norwich", remains in use.

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Terminus   Great Eastern Railway
Norwich Branch		   Swainsthorpe
Line and station closed

Norwich Victoria
Location
PlaceNorwich
AreaCity of Norwich
Grid referenceTG227080
Operations
Pre-groupingEastern Union Railway
Eastern Counties Railway
Great Eastern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Eastern Region of British Railways
Platforms2
History
12 December 1849Opened
22 May 1916Closed to passengers
31 January 1966Closed as goods depot
September 1986Coal Concentration depot and branch closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain
A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

Opening

The station was opened by the Eastern Union Railway (EUR), with regular passenger services commencing on 12 December 1849. The booking hall of the station had once housed a circus which formed an entertainment centre known as Ranelagh Gardens. The circus on the site had been operated by a Spanish-sounding gentleman named Pablo Fanque (in reality a Mr Darby from Norwich) and when the EUR purchased the site they then sold the various circus fittings.[1][2]

The station had two platforms arranged in a V-shape, with the V at the south end and the rotunda (or pantheon) containing the ticket office at the north end. A small garden was located between the two platforms. According to the 1914 Ordnance Survey plan of the site, there was a two-road engine shed (which measured 136 feet by 40 feet) and a turntable to the west of the station, and goods facilities to the east.[3]

The station was not well sited, in that passengers wishing to continue a journey beyond Norwich had to transfer to Thorpe station. On 8 September 1851 a link opened from the EUR line to the Norwich-to-Ely line, and most Ipswich services then used Thorpe station, Victoria being left with four or five trains each day.

The EUR was taken over by the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) in 1854. However, by the 1860s the railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble, and most were leased to the ECR. It wished to amalgamate formally but could not obtain government agreement for this until 1862, when the Great Eastern Railway (GER) was formed by the amalgamation. Thus Norwich Thorpe and Norwich Victoria became GER stations in 1862.[4]

Closure

The station was closed to passenger traffic in 1916, but was converted for goods traffic whilst coal was still handled in the adjacent yard.

The engine shed and turntable had been removed by 1926.[5]

The station buildings were largely demolished after the Second World War, and were finally removed in February 1953.

Victoria played a significant role in handling goods traffic in the city. The table below shows the tonnages handled by the four Norwich stations in a 12-week period ending in October 1958.

CityVictoriaThorpeTrowse
Merchandise2,4236,43916,4092,673
Minerals2,9332,1673,555340
Coal and Coke20,06114,6496561,548
Total Tonnage25,41723,25520,6204,561

The station closed to goods in 1966; at that time the adjacent coal yard was modernised, becoming a coal concentration depot. Traffic was generally worked by Class 03 or Class 08 shunters from the main station at Norwich until closure of the line in September 1986.[6][7]

The coal depot site is now occupied by a Sainsbury's store, and the main station site is occupied by the Norwich offices of Marsh. Most of the buildings disappeared long ago; the trackbed has been converted into a footpath known as Lakenham Way, for use by pedestrians and cyclists.[8]

See also

References
  1. Allen, Cecil J (1955). Great Eastern Railway (1975 ed.). Shepperton UK: Ian Allan Limited. p. 29. ISBN 07110 0659 8.
  2. Richard S, Joby (January 2000). "Brassey, Bruff, Locke and the Norwich Extension". Great Eastern Journal. 101: 27.
  3. Robertson, Alic (April 1995). "Norwich Victoria, Norfolk". Great Eastern Journal. 82: 15.
  4. Vaughan, Adrian (1997). Railwaymen, Politics and Money. London: John Murray. pp. 134, 135. ISBN 0 7195 5150 1.
  5. Hawkins, Chris; Reeve, George (1986). Great Eastern Engine Sheds Part 1. Didcot, UK: Wild Swan. p. 183. ISBN 0 906867 40 1.
  6. Robertson, Alic (April 1995). "Norwich Victoria, Norfolk". Great Eastern Journal. 82: 15.
  7. Adderson, Richard (January 2013). "Norwich Victoria - a survivor against the odds". Great Eastern Journal. 153: 25–26.
  8. Lakenham way Retrieved 23 April 2011

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