Erith

The South Eastern Railway’s (SER) North Kent Line opened to regular traffic on 30th July 1849, making through running between London Bridge and Strood via Lewisham, Blackheath, Dartford, and Gravesend possible. A station at Erith — 15-miles 64-chains from London Bridge — came into use on that date. The North Kent Line started 2½-miles south east of London Bridge, branching off from the viaduct of the London & Greenwich Railway, and proceeded 23½-miles to Gravesend. Beyond the latter, a previous concern by the name of the Gravesend & Rochester Railway (G&RR) had existed, operating a single-track line to Strood through a canal tunnel. The SER received Royal Assent on 3rd August 1846 to purchase the G&RR (ref: The Morning Post (London), 11th September 1846), after which the company filled in the canal bed through the tunnel and rebuilt the course of the line to double-track.

In 1849, Erith was merely a rural village, situated on the edge of the Thames, surrounded by marshland. However, it was also a favourite resort for tens of thousands of pleasure-seekers, and the station was described at the time as follows:

Erith station is a very commodious one, and will serve the wealthy population of Bexley, Bexleyheath, Crayford etc. A very fair amount of residential and good-paying traffic will be obtained to and from this station, exclusive of the pleasure traffic. The hop grounds add much to the character of the scenery in the vicinity of this station. [Maidstone Journal, Kentish Advertiser, and South Eastern Intelligencer, 3rd July 1849]

The diagram shows the original position of the goods shed, and the presence of a dock platform and sidings behind the "down" platform. A track intercepting the running lines, linked by small wagon turntables, was a common feature of early stations. Click the above for a larger version. © David Glasspool

Two platforms were in use at Erith from the outset, situated either side of the double-track line, in a staggered formation. Early photographs show the platforms to have been of brick construction, but surfaced with timber planks; they were backed at their rears by wooden boards and linked by a track foot crossing. At the time of the North Kent Line’s opening, Samuel Beazley was architect to the SER — he had already designed a number of well-known London theatres (ref: The Biograph and Review, Volume IV, E. W. Allen, 1880). At Erith, Beazley produced a fine two-storey-high Italianate-style main building behind the "down" (Dartford-bound) platform. Yellow brick in construction, this impressive structure was frescoed with stone lining, comprised sash-style windows, boasted a spacious booking hall, and had ample living accommodation for the Station Master. A plain upward-sloping platform canopy without valance was attached to the main building, similar in appearance to today’s awning. The same style of building — albeit much larger — was produced by Beazley for the SER’s station at Gravesend and, like Erith, this remains in existence. The "up" platform was the recipient of a large timber waiting shelter demonstrating a roof that sloped down towards the rear of the platform. Lighting was in the form of the then fashionable diamond-shaped gas lamps, which were affixed to the timber hoardings that lined the rears of both platforms.

Beazley died suddenly on 12th October 1851 at Tonbridge Castle in Kent (ref: Civil Engineer and Architect’s Journal, Volume XIV, 1851). The castle was his country residence during his association with the SER in his final years. Beazley’s largest surviving works for the SER is the former Lord Warden hotel in Dover, which he completed just before his death (ref: Civil Engineer and Architect’s Journal, Volume XIV, 1851).

The formation of sidings in the early years is depicted in the above diagram. As can be seen, sidings existed on "up" and "down" sides, these of which were linked together by a perpendicular track across the running lines fed by small wagon turntables. A brick-built goods shed was evident on the "down" side of the line, to the north west of the main building. Through the goods shed passed a single track; however, to access this, trains coming off the main line had to perform a head shunt manoeuvre. Period photographs suggest that the siding laid behind the "down" platform was used for carriage storage.

The layout is depicted after the extensive alterations made by the Southern Railway. The curve linking the main line with the ballast wharf had been laid by 1895. "Fraser and Chalmers", marked on the plan, was a mining engineering firm founded in Chicago, USA. The company started construction of their works upon a 17-acre site in Erith in August 1891 (ref: The Kentish Mercury, 28th August 1891). In the 20th May 1893 edition of "The Railway News", it was reported that their works was nearing completion. Vickers formerly had a munitions works on the western side of the railway (marked No. 9 on the plan), this having closed in December 1931. The site which became Vickers had originally been acquired in 1887 by the "Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company". Click the above for a larger version. © David Glasspool

In 1865 Erith’s Station Master was recorded as Mr R. C. Taylor and the signalman Thomas Butcher (ref: The Morning Post, 14th March 1865). In those early years, no prominent signal box existed at Erith, which was the case at many stations at that time. Rather, the signalman typically resided in a small timber hut and operated each semaphore and set of points manually. However, by about 1875, a single-storey hipped roof timber cabin had appeared near the Dartford end of the "up" platform, adjacent to the track foot crossing — this structure is visible in the picture below from 1971. The situation was further improved upon in about 1890, during a period of intensive resignalling on railways nationwide, when a larger signal box was established beside the existing cabin. This was built to an in-house SER design: two-storeys-high and of all-timber construction, the signal box featured the familiar sash-style windows and hipped roof, and a near identical structure still exists at Cuxton.

By the 1895 Ordnance Survey edition, the "up" platform had been equipped with a generous 160-foot-long canopy, with timber offices situated near the track foot crossing. The canopy comprised a decorative spiked valance as per that installed at St Johns, rather than the more common clover-pattern associated with SER stations.

Further structural alterations were made under South Eastern & Chatham Railway (SE&CR) auspices. By 1907, the main building had received a brick-built single-storey extension to its Dartford side; additionally, the two storeys of the main building’s northern side were extended towards the forecourt, in sympathy with Beazley’s original work. Upon the "down" platform, beyond the Dartford side of the main building, was constructed a single-storey pitched-roof structure fabricated from timber, this of which is evident in the below 1971 photograph.

1971

The signal box had been taken down by the time of this London-bound view from the "down" platform; ironically, however, its predecessor still sat at ground level at the Dartford end of the "up" platform, on the left — it was still there fourteen years later. In the right foreground is the single-storey timber structure erected by the SE&CR, attached to which is the 150-foot-long upward-sloping platform canopy installed by the Southern Railway in the late 1930s. The metal footbridge was built to the same design as that still in use at Swanley and, at the time of this photograph, it retained its glazing. The station’s timber had then recently been repainted into white from the weathered cream (with green lining) of the previous era. A track foot crossing was still in place and the station was transitioning from green signage to black text on a white background. © David Glasspool Collection

The Southern Railway (SR) introduced a regular electric passenger timetable on all North Kent routes to Dartford on 19th July 1926 (ref: Southern Electric 1909-1979, G.T. Moody). Around this time, based on photographic observations, the company added a timber valance to the platform canopy of the main building, which from the outset had lacked one. In the late 1930s the SR carried out a further programme of improvements across their system, which included: provision of a new station at Bishopstone (near Seaford); alterations to stations at Broadstairs, Brockenhurst, Charlton, Erith, Earlsfield, Feltham, Haydons Road (Wimbledon), New Eltham, Seaton, Shepperton, and Woking; and the opening of a new bonded store for South African wines at Nine Elms (ref: Herne Bay Press, 15th October 1938). The works at Erith included the construction of a footbridge between the platforms: this was a fully enclosed rectangular metal design, complete with glazing, based on the same outline as those structures brought into use by the SR at Swanley and St Mary Cray stations. Based on your author's observations, construction of the footbridge coincided with the shortening of the "up" side canopy at its Dartford end by about 20-feet. An upward-sloping canopy of 150-foot-length was installed on the "down" side, linking the footbridge's entrance with Beazley’s main building and the SE&CR's timber structure. A large square single-storey yellow brick extension was made to the booking hall, which protruded onto the forecourt. The original SER goods shed was demolished and replaced by a larger structure, again located on the "down" side, but situated closer to the station building than its predecessor.

In about 1948 concrete bracket lampposts, equipped with electric lighting, were installed at Erith; additionally, the sides of the platforms were refaced with prefabricated concrete. As part of British Railways Southern Region’s ten-car train scheme to relieve overcrowding on South Eastern Division suburban lines, both platforms at Erith were extended in 1956 using prefabricated concrete components. Based on your author’s observations, the extension of the "down" platform in the London direction coincided with the demolition of the goods shed. Public goods traffic was withdrawn on and from 7th October 1968 (ref: Branch Line News Supplement No. 6, Branch Line Society, January 1969).

March 1985

Another London-bound view, this time from the road bridge at the Dartford end of the layout, shows refurbished 4-CEP No. 1551 leading a Charing Cross to Ramsgate service through the station. The Southern Railway's single-storey addition to the main building can be seen here, jutting out towards the car park. Of the latter, this completely disappeared underneath the dual carriageway named "Bronze Age Way", which opened in May 1997. The SR’s solid concrete fencing is evident atop the bank on the right. © David Glasspool Collection

In the October 1969 edition of the RCTS' The Railway Observer, it was reported that all signals controlled by Erith signal box were disconnected in August of that year, although the cabin had already been out of use for some time. This resulted in no signals being present on either platform at Erith. As part of the resignalling of the North Kent routes, colour lights were brought into use between Plumstead and Erith (inclusive) on 25th October 1970. No existing signal boxes along this section were closed, because they were still required to control sidings or level crossings (ref: RCTS’ The Railway Observer, December 1970). From 1st November 1970, the then new Dartford Panel took control of the area (ref: The Railway Magazine, January 1971).

In about 1989 a glazed bus shelter-style structure was installed on Erith’s "down" platform, south east of the existing station structures. On 16th December 1994, a £450,000 refurbishment of the station was officially unveiled, funded jointly by Railtrack, the Railway Heritage Trust, and the London Borough of Bexley (ref: The Railway Magazine, March 1995). This project returned the main station building to more or less to its original 1849 external appearance: both SE&CR and SR extensions were demolished — including the former’s timber structure from the early 1900s — large sash-style windows restored to the ground floor of the forecourt-facing elevation, and a grand double-door booking hall entrance installed. The "down" side canopy was truncated at its Dartford end, so it no longer went beyond Beazley’s building, and the glazing was removed from the footbridge. The "up" platform canopy was retained and restored, and two plaques were unveiled in the booking hall to commemorate the work.

In 2013, work at Erith was completed on lengthening both platforms to accept twelve-vehicle electric formations. This was in connection with introducing longer trains on the North Kent routes to compensate for the reduction of peak-time services to Charing Cross and Cannon Street during the rebuilding of London Bridge station. These extensions comprised a mixture of brick and concrete, and were backed at their rears by timber fencing.

Next >>