Westcombe Park
Greenwich received
its first train service on 24th December 1838 when the London & Greenwich
Railway was opened fully to London Bridge. The South Eastern Railway took out a
999 year lease on the line in 1845 and four years later, completed its London to
Strood North Kent Line, via Dartford. Unfortunately for the SER, the original
Greenwich line could not be extended eastwards at this time due to objections
from the Royal Observatory, thus a circuitous route via Lewisham, Blackheath,
and then back up to Charlton, was taken. Bridging the gap between Greenwich and
Charlton began with the opening of a double-track extension from the latter to
Maze Hill on 1st January 1873, followed by a final single-track link thence on
1st February 1878. Westcombe Park opened the following year, although the
station was initially known as ‘’Coombe Farm Lane’’. This was merely an
intermediate stop on the outskirts of Greenwich, but nevertheless, two platforms
were each host to virtually identical single-storey brick buildings. Up to this
time, the SER had been providing latterly conceived stations with economical
clapboard structures, but brick appears to have had a renaissance at a number of
locations (Halling, the rebuilt Yalding), Westcombe Park evidently being
included within this. The reason behind this is possibly to keep the station in
sympathy with others along the route: at the time, all stations on the Greenwich
line and indeed, through to Dartford via Woolwich, had a substantial brick
content. Indeed, Maze Hill did demonstrate a significant amount of timber, but
this was merely cladding upon brick buildings. Westcombe Park’s structures were
each treated with a generous canopy, replicating the design and style of those
which had previously appeared at Plumstead in 1859. Passengers also had the
luxury of a subway between the platforms, this being accessed via the
idiosyncratic SER roof-protected entrances. These had been pioneered on the
company’s original North Kent Line, the Dartford Loop Line, and the Dover & Deal
Joint Railway.
By the turn of the 20th Century, the station had become ‘’Westcombe Park’’, but
little else, if anything, had so far changed. Its namesake had been demolished
in 1900 to make way for housing. No additional facilities, such as goods or
stabling sidings, were ever provided from the outset. A signal box of SER
design, complete with sash style windows, had opened with the station in 1879,
being positioned at the London end of the ‘’up’’ platform, but even this closed
just prior to the Southern Railway’s 1926 electrification, going out of use in
February of that year. This company rebuilt the platforms in prefabricated
concrete, but significant alterations were not to be seen until under British
Rail auspices. In about 1970, the nationalised organisation demolished the
‘’down’’ side building and canopy, replacing it with just a single bus shelter.
The ‘’up’’ side building lost a chimney stack, but thankfully this, its canopy,
and the subway entrances survived. During this period there were a number of
peculiar demolitions, the reasoning behind them being somewhat less than
obvious, thus it is not known why the ‘’down’’ side building was destroyed.
During 1991, stations within the South Eastern Division’s London suburbs were
given concrete platform extensions to accept twelve-vehicle formations. This was
a project pioneered by Business Sector ‘’Network SouthEast’’ to alleviate
overcrowding on peak time services. Strangely, Westcombe Park was the only
station within the aforementioned parameters not to be so treated, instead
remaining with its ten-car platform capacity acquired in June 1954. Limiting
factors resulting in this decision are perhaps the close proximity of roads
either side of the platforms, compounded by the fact that the station’s
immediate environs are a nature reserve. Despite this, 1991 did see the
procurement of platform television screens for drivers and in 1999, electronic
indicator boards for passengers appeared. More recently, in 2005, a new bus
shelter appeared on the ‘’down’’ side.
19th April 2006
An eastward view shows the surviving ''up'' side building, complete with canopy and subway entrance. All
appear to be in excellent condition, the canopy even retaining its intricate valance. The ''down'' side subway
entrance can be deciphered on the left by its arched roof, whilst the bus shelter can be seen beyond this.
David Glasspool
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