St Mary Cray
The station opened with the through route
to Victoria on 3rd December 1860 and whilst it incorporated some typical LC&DR
features, its layout did differ from its counterparts further east along the
line. Beginning with the familiars first, the main building here replicated that
which appeared at Farningham Road, but on this occasion was positioned on the
‘’down’’ side, the latter station demonstrating the reverse of this.
Interestingly, whereas Farningham Road’s structure, among many others, was given
an all-over white paint scheme, St Mary Cray’s building instead retained the
less common untreated brick surface. The ‘’up’’ side was host to the customary
timber waiting shelter, this being of the exact same design as those examples
still in existence at both Sole Street and Adisham. The platform arrangement
here was, however, unusual for a LC&DR station, it instead harking back to the
SER’s preferred formation of staggered faces. These were linked at their ends by
a track foot crossing, a footbridge not arriving for nearly three and a half
decades later. Two signal boxes were provided here, at either end of the layout
and to the LC&DR’s own in-house design. That at the London end of the layout was
situated on the ‘’up’’ side and positioned about 400 foot from the end of the
corresponding platform, whilst the ‘’country’’ end cabin was located alongside
the entrance tracks of the goods yard. Goods provision here was more than
adequate for a small intermediate station in near isolation, surrounded by
greenery: the yard was situated on the ‘’down’’ side, to the west of the station
building and was actually built on land lower than the running lines which, from
the platforms, gave the single-track goods shed a ‘’stumpy’’ appearance.
Nevertheless, it was built to the same pitched-roof design and dimensions as
those examples seen at the likes of Sole Street and Adisham. The opening of
Swanley was delayed for a number of weeks, thus branch trains from the Bat &
Ball line made their main line connections at St Mary Cray.
Under Southern Railway ownership there were some big changes ahead for this
station, and its LC&DR charm was to disappear as it became subject to
comprehensive modernisation. The original company had provided a covered lattice
footbridge in 1894, but comparatively speaking, its existence was to be short lived. In
1935, the SR initiated a rebuilding programme, which resulted in the demolition
of all original structures excepting the goods shed. By this time, St Mary Cray
as an area was seeing considerable housing development and expansion, no doubt
instigated by the electrification, which allowed commuters to live further out
from London as a result of reduced journey times. A new ‘’high level’’ station entrance was established on
the ‘’up’’ side, fed by one of the then recently completed residential roads,
situated on former woodland. The design of this entrance was typical of SR
architecture of the era and its general shape can best be likened to the
‘’glasshouse’’ signal box which still exists at Deal – of course, the latter is
somewhat smaller. Access to the station was still possible from the ‘’down’’
side, although a more modest, single-storey flat-roofed brick structure was
provided. A replacement footbridge arrived, of riveted steel construction and
replicating the example which is still in existence at Swanley. The platforms
also received brick-built waiting facilities and new canopies: these were upward
sloping, virtually the same as those still present at Albany Park. The SR’s
architecture could perhaps be considered clinical at this stage – it certainly
did not reflect the grandeur the company had demonstrated in the 1920s at both
Margate and Ramsgate stations. Although much bygone charm and character at St
Mary Cray was lost, the station did at least see a welcome modernisation in the
form of illumination: gas lighting was replaced by electric lamps. Rebuilding
was completed in 1936.
It has already been mentioned that the goods shed was the only structure to
survive the rebuilding; even the signal boxes did not last. Cabin ‘’B’’ was
rebuilt, but cabin ‘‘A’’ had closed permanently in October 1926. The existing
goods sidings were marginally rearranged and on the ‘’up’’ side, some additional
and decidedly lengthy sidings were installed. This was done at great expense and
used considerable amounts of manpower, for it required the mass accumulation of
earth to build up the southern embankment to accommodate the extra tracks. The
then recent housing development had resulted in a boom in the local demand for
coal, hence the sudden siding provision.
Swanley had acquired a wholly new station in 1939 in conjunction with the
Gillingham electrification; it had been built on an alternate site,
therefore not even the platforms were reused. A similar situation would occur at
St Mary Cray under British Railways auspices, but at least the same site would
be retained. As part of the Kent Coast Electrification (Phase 1), the decision
was taken to extend the quadruple track from Bickley, through to Swanley. The
latter station was readily adaptable to this arrangement; it had originally been
built with four platform faces, two of which served loops, therefore no major
works were required here. However, St Mary Cray was still principally a small,
two-platform station, despite the 1936 modernisation. It is worth mentioning the
nature of the terrain at this point: the ‘’up’’ platform was located within a
cutting, but the land contours here changed dramatically when the ‘’down’’
platform was reached, which gave the interesting spectacle of the goods yard and
sidings being in an elevated position. The new layout planned here was not too
dissimilar to that which was at Swanley, two concrete-built islands being a
feature, these hosting brick-built waiting facilities. The canopies had a
distinct ‘’V’’ shape, but their design was not unique to this station, examples
being destined to appear at Chatham during the same period. A significant
feature of the then new St Mary Cray layout was the entrance: this followed the
favoured LC&DR practice of suspending the main building across the tracks. No
road bridge actually existed across the tracks at this time, thus a dedicated
walkway was instead erected and a square-plan elevated station structure built
immediately adjacent to it. Building work began in late 1957, which included the
widening of the cutting to accept four tracks and the additional platform faces.
The nine-arch St Mary Cray Viaduct, east of the station, also required
extending, which involved the excavation of 500,000 tons of soil. The northern
of the island platforms was commissioned to accept ''down'' stopping workings on
17th August 1958, whilst the southern island served ''up'' services from 31st of
the same month. Interestingly,
the original LC&DR goods shed survived this second rebuilding and continued in
use until such facilities were withdrawn in October 1968. The tracks were
lifted, but the shed building was left standing – it subsequently went into
private use and still stands today.
Since rebuilding there have been the obvious and customary changes to features
such as name boards and lampposts, but there has been one structural alteration.
The walkway which flanks either side of the station building was built as an
enclosed passage. However, in the mid-1990s the roofing, glazing and brickwork
were removed, thus leaving the station’s walkway approaches exposed to the
elements.
A westward view on 19th April 2006 reveals the 1959 station building straddling the tracks and
in front of it, the walkway linking the structure with either side of the cutting. The walkway was
formerly enclosed. David Glasspool
An earlier view from 27th February 2004 reveals the canopies and platform structures, all of which
now look somewhat forlorn and in desperate need of sprucing up. David Glasspool
The station has a distinctive appearance, especially when viewed looking eastwards, as in this
scene from 19th April 2006. The platforms are spacious and four reversible faces are provided,
even though most trains do not stop here. David Glasspool
Return to the Kent Rail Homepage or alternatively, check for Updates.
Website & Copyright information - Links - Contact the Webmaster
All content is copyright © David Glasspool