Mill Hill railway station (Isle of Wight)

Mill Hill (Isle of Wight) railway station
The site of the former station in 2018, now a small park (Arctic Park). Looking north-west along the course of the old track, the platform was on the left. The blocked-up tunnel entrance can be seen at the far end of the park.
General information
Location	Southern suburbs of Cowes, Isle of Wight England
Grid reference	SZ497954
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Pre-grouping	Cowes and Newport Railway (1862–1887) Isle of Wight Central Railway (1887 to 1923)
Post-grouping	Southern Railway (1923 to 1948) Southern Region of British Railways (1948 to 1966)
Key dates
1871	Opened
21 February 1966	Closed
Location

A 1914 Railway Clearing House map of lines around The Isle of Wight.

Mill Hill railway station is a disused station in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

History

It opened in 1871 ^[1] and was first seen as the down train from the main Cowes railway station emerged from the 208 yard tunnel along the curving platform, ^[2] the sweep still visible in 2005 ^[3] on a small area of grass where the demolished station ^[4] once stood. ^[5] Unlike many of the Island's railway stations, Mill Hill was busy at the beginning and end of each working day, depositing and picking up hundreds of workmen from shipyards. ^[6]

Conversely, after passenger closure in 1966 a single employee spent six months on duty at the crossing just past the station with not one chance to open it, ^[7] although freight traffic continued to Medina Wharf for a few months after passenger trains were withdrawn.

Stationmasters

• William Henry Strawn ca. 1879 ^[8] ca. 1880 (afterwards station master at Haven Street)
• John William Gibbs ca. 1896 ^[9]
• F. Williams ca. 1910
• Percy Hawkins ca. 1920

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Medina Wharf		British Rail Southern Region IoW CR  : Newport to Cowes line		Cowes

See also

• List of closed railway stations in Britain

References

1. Railway Passenger Stations by M.Quick page 316
2. Pomeroy, C. A. (1993). Isle of Wight Railways, Then and Now. Oxford: Past & Present Publishing. ISBN   0-947971-62-9.
3. Catford, Nick. "Mill Hill". Disused Stations.
4. Built in 1880 Hay, P. (1988). Steaming Through the Isle of Wight. Midhurst: Middleton. ISBN   0-906520-56-8.
5. Gammell, C. J. (1997). Southern Branch Lines. Oxford: OPC. ISBN   0-86093-537-X.
6. Paye, Peter (1984). Isle of Wight Railways remembered. Oxford: OPC. ISBN   0-86093-212-5.
7. Hughie White, quoted in Britton, A. (1994). Once Upon a Line. Vol. 4. Oxford: OPC. ISBN   0-86093-513-2.
8. "County Bench" . Isle of Wight Observer. England. 18 October 1879. Retrieved 28 July 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Obstructing a Central Railway Official" . Isle of Wight County Press and South of England Reporter. England. 17 October 1896. Retrieved 28 July 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.

External links

• Pictures of Mill Hill

50°45′26″N1°17′50″W / 50.7573°N 1.2973°W / 50.7573; -1.2973