Teynham
Teynham came into use
with the East Kent Railway’s first section of operational line between Chatham
and Faversham inclusive, on 25th January 1858, and was a station typical of this
company’s trunk line to Dover. Two platforms around a double-track arrangement
were in evidence, the main building being situated on the ‘’up’’ side. The
latter was based on a variation of a standardised design which was used on the
route throughout: two storeys in height, the structure comprised two
perpendicular pitched roof sections, and came complete with the LC&DR’s
trademark whitewash wall finish. Large buildings such as these incorporated both
the booking office and the Station Master’s accommodation, which eliminated the
need for a separate house. Good examples of this architecture still survive at
Farningham Road, Sole Street, and Shepherds Well stations, and it is worth
noting that the buildings here all possess their own characteristic differences.
Extending from the eastern elevation of Teynham’s main building was a
single-storey square-shaped block, which lacked the whitewash finish of the rest
of the structure; this appears to have incorporated toilet facilities, and a
similar block came into use at Farningham Road in 1860. A 35-foot-long flat-roof
canopy was attached to the main building’s northern elevation; its style was
identical to that still in existence at Shepherds Well. Teynham’s ‘’down’’
platform featured a small timber waiting shelter, complete with wrap-a-round
sides, which was set upon a shallow brick base. This sported the same valance as
the ‘’up’’ side main building, and was also based on a standardised shelter
design, similar structures coming into use at Selling and Adisham. Similar to
several stations commissioned for traffic in the earliest years of railway
operation, Teynham did not boast the luxury of a footbridge, the platforms being
linked from the outset by track foot crossings at either end of the layout.
Goods facilities were concentrated behind the ‘’up’’ platform, and comprised
four westward-facing sidings and a sole eastward-facing stub, the latter of
which required a headshunt manoeuvre to gain access. Adjacent to the station
building’s western elevation was a single-track goods shed, measuring
approximately 45-foot long by 25-foot wide. It was constituted of the same crème
brick as the station building, and came complete with the LC&DR’s well known
orange lining, around the circular roof ventilation hole. A flat-roof canopy
also extended from the structure’s southern elevation, having a valance which
matched the style of those upon the platforms. Approximately 120-yards west of
the goods shed was a diminutive wagon turntable, which provided access to a pair
of roughly northward-facing stubs. Like the example at Rainham, the turntable’s
close proximity to the ‘’up’’ platform required an indentation to be made in the
rear of this surface; thus, the railings which lined the back of the platform
demonstrated a pronounced semi-circular kink to accommodate this. As per
Birchington-on-Sea, the LC&DR hired outside contractors Stevens & Sons to signal
the layout. One of this company’s signal boxes appeared on the ‘’down’’ side,
160 yards west of the platforms, in about 1880, and was a slightly enlarged
version of the example still in use at Grain Crossing.
Under SE&CR auspices, a lattice footbridge – comprising a main span of 65-feet
in length – was installed across the running lines at the eastern ends of the
platforms. Erected in about 1910, this was quite an extensive structure,
suspended over a level crossing, and the main span sprouted no less than four
flights of stairs. Two years previously, an additional eastward-facing siding
had come into use behind the ‘’down’’ platform. This had been commissioned as an
exchange siding for the single-track 3-foot 6-inch narrow gauge line of a local
brickworks, which entered the station site, again behind the ‘’down’’ platform,
from the west. The standard gauge siding was fitted with catch points, thus any
runaway wagons would be derailed before reaching the main line.
Changes under the Southern Railway included the installation of swan neck-shaped
gas lamps, circa 1926, and later on during this company’s tenure, the removal of
the wagon turntable. Little else changed at the site until the British Railways
era, a time of significant rationalisation. As part of the Kent Coast
Electrification Scheme, the platforms were extended at their western ends by
390-feet, with concrete cast components, to accommodate the twelve vehicle
electric formations proposed. Concurrent with this, concrete bracket lampposts,
supporting electric lighting, appeared. On 24th May 1959, colour light
signalling came into use at the site, but the Stevens & Sons cabin remained in
use to control the still extant sidings. Goods facilities were formally
withdrawn on 1st October 1962, but the last sidings did not go out of use with
the signal box until 25th June 1967. Just three years later, demolitions were on
the cards: the eastern side of the ‘’up’’ side building was demolished, to
permit the building of a new 35-foot long single-storey ticket office. The
latter was a soulless affair, merely existing as a brown-brick block, with
timber cladding upon the roof line – similar structures came into use at both
Newington and Swanley. Only the single-storey appendices of Teynham’s main
building were dispensed with; the two-storey high Station Master’s house
remained in existence alongside, and both the goods shed and ‘’down’’ side
waiting shelter were retained. In addition to this ticket office was erected
another structure of the same ilk, immediately to the east: measuring 10-feet
across by 20-feet deep, this house the level crossing keeper, whom still moved
the adjacent wicket gates by hand. This continued to provide road access to
about twenty residences north of the line.
During the 1980s, the route was subject to a number of modernisations, which
included the restoration of Faversham’s ‘’down’’ side ticket office and, in
1985, the demolition of the substantial ‘’down’’ side shelter at Birchington-on-Sea.
In the same year, the original 1858 ‘’up’’ side building at Teynham was
demolished, and the ‘’down’’ side waiting shelter was also lost. The latter was
replaced by a clinical bus shelter, situated on a new site 75-feet to the east,
in closer proximity to the footbridge. Twenty years later, the footbridge
witnessed the replacement of its latticework with plain steel sides. Whilst the
foundations of the former ‘’up’’ side station building can still be traced
today, only the goods shed, in addition to the brickwork and railings of the platforms,
remain of the original East Kent Railway station of 1858.
20th June 2007
Three-car Class 375 No. 375301 passes through Teynham with a Faversham service, with portions for Ramsgate
and Dover. The railings on both platforms are relics from the LC&DR era, and the overgrown area on the right,
behind the platform, was formerly host to both a Standard Gauge and Narrow Gauge siding. David Glasspool
20th June 2007
Although the station has been modernised in a rather clinical fashion, it still retains character in the form of
traditional level crossing gates. These are still staffed, and provide access to a row of cottages behind the
camera. The lengthy footbridge above has now lost all of its lattice ironwork. David Glasspool
20th June 2007
The gates are seen in action in this eastward view, as the keeper closes the crossing after the passage of a
car. The keeper has a dedicated room, alongside the station building of 1970. David Glasspool
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