Hethersett
StatusDisused
BoroughHethersett, South Norfolk
CountryEngland
Platforms2
OriginalNorfolk Railway
PregroupGreat Eastern Railway
PostgroupLondon and North Eastern Railway
Eastern Region of British Railways
Years30 July 1845
EventsOpened
Years 1September 1847
Events 1Closed
Years 2February 1852
Events 2Reopened
Years 328 December 1964
Events 3Closed to freight
Years 431 January 1966
Events 4Closed to passengers

Hethersett was a railway station near Hethersett, Norfolk.

History

The Norwich and Brandon Railway Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. xv) authorising the Norwich and Brandon Railway (N&BR) received royal assent on 10 May 1844. Work started on the line in 1844 and the line and its stations were opened on 30 July 1845. Hethersett station opened with the line and was situated east of Spink's Lane station and west of Trowse station. The line ran from Ely to Trowse, in Norwich. The link into Norwich was delayed due to the need to build a bridge over the River Wensum that kept the river navigable. One month before the N&BR opened the Norfolk Railway Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. xli) was passed authorising the amalgamation of the Yarmouth and Norwich Railway with the N&BR came into effect and so Hethersett station became a Norfolk Railway (NR) asset.

Spink's Lane was closed in November 1845, so the next station west of Hethersett was Wymondham.[1]

The NR closed Hethersett station in September 1847.[2]

Five years later and four years after the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) took over the NR the new owners reopened Hethersett Station.[3]

A decade after Hethersett reopened, the railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble, and most were leased to the ECR, which wished to amalgamate formally but could not obtain government agreement for this until the Great Eastern Railway Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c. ccxxiii) was passed on 7 August 1862, when the Great Eastern Railway (GER) was formed by the amalgamation. Hethersett became a GER station on 1 July 1862 when the GER took over the ECR.

The GER amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) on 1 January 1923, so Hethersett became a LNER station. On 1 January 1948 Hethersett became a British Railways (BR) station.[4]

Hethersett Station was now served by Diesel trains from 1962. British Transport Commission (1954).[5]

BR closed Hethersett station on 31 January 1966.[6]

Hethersett was located some distance from the village it took its name from. It was located on the Great Eastern Main Line between Norwich and Thetford. Despite its remote location, the station was served by between ten and twelve trains a day each way during the early 1960s. Following closure, the platforms were removed and the station building stood derelict for many years. It has now been restored and is an industrial premises.

References

  1. ^ C.J. Allen [full citation needed]
  2. ^ RVJ Butt [full citation needed]
  3. ^ RVJ Butt [full citation needed]
  4. ^ Her Majesty's Government (1947). "Transport Act 1947". The Railways Archive. (originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office).
  5. ^ "Modernisation and Re-Equipment of British Rail"
  6. ^ RVJ Butt [full citation needed]