Woolwich Dockyard
This station is of
some architectural note. When the SER built the original North Kent Line, the
company had to carve through the already built up suburb of Woolwich. The
solution devised was to take the railway underneath the town centre by use of a
series of cuttings and tunnels, which explains the positioning of Woolwich
Dockyard’s platforms below street level. This restrictive station, sandwiched
in-between two tunnel portals, opened with the route on 30th July 1849. For a
small site, there was a generous provision of station buildings: beginning with
the ‘’up’’ side, the structures were one-storey high from street level, but an
additional storey was acquired with the drop down to platform level. The set-up
was symmetrical: the main building, some 40 feet in length and 20 feet in depth,
laid parallel with the platforms and was flanked on either side by appendices,
both identical to each other, these some 20 feet in length and 25 feet in depth.
The brickwork and the structures’ design (from the general outline of the
buildings, right down to the window frames) seen at the Dockyard station were
also implemented by the SER at Maidstone (West), on the Medway Valley Line.
Furthermore, the exact window frame design of the Dockyard station’s
aforementioned appendices can still be readily viewed at the contemporary Erith.
On the ‘’down’’ side, the land sloped, which allowed the buildings here to be
provided at platform level. Thus, they were single-storey throughout, but built
to the same pattern as those on the ‘’up’’ side, demonstrating a main central
structure, flanked by appendices. They were, however, built on a slightly
smaller scale to their ‘’up’’ side counterparts. Both platforms were graced with
ornate canopies, demonstrating a valance design which could, until recently, be
seen at Woolwich Arsenal. Initially, the two platform faces were linked by a
centrally-positioned track foot crossing; the ‘’up’’ side buildings incorporated
a staircase to bring passengers down to platform level. A covered lattice
footbridge came into use later: demonstrating the same design as the one which
appeared at Gravesend Central, it appears to have been erected circa 1890.
Considering this is such a restrictive site, it comes as no surprise that there
was an absence of a goods yard. Despite this, room was made available for a pair
of refuge sidings. These were positioned on the ‘’up’’ and ‘’down’’
sides, to the east and west of the platforms respectively - that on the ''up''
side even boasted its own covered accommodation. Its protection from the
elements probably succumbed in 1906, during the rebuilds of nearby Charlton
Junction and Woolwich Arsenal stations. As customary, the station was host to a signal box to control the sidings, this being positioned at the eastern
end of the ‘’up’’ platform. It seems likely that this was built as a ground
structure, as per the first cabin at Erith – indeed, the canopies and latterly
installed footbridge had the potential to mar the view from a two-storey
structure. About 360 yards to the west of the station was a second signal box,
also carrying the legend ‘’Woolwich Dockyard’’: two-storeys high, wholly of
timber and to the SER’s typical design, this controlled a single-track
connection with its namesake. The branch to the dockyard trailed off the ‘’up’’
line in a north eastern direction, subsequently plunging into a tunnel before
reaching the naval site. The connection opened soon after the North Kent Line
itself, but the aforementioned signal box was at least three decades older.
All three North Kent routes were early subjects of the Southern Railway’s
suburban electrification scheme. To tie in with this, the refuge sidings at
Woolwich Dockyard were taken out of use and the station’s signal box
subsequently closed. The cabin at the junction with the dockyard branch still
remained. Regular electric working began on the lines on 6th June 1926. In spite
of these alterations, the Dockyard station retained all of its major SER
architecture – for now; the advent of British Railways in 1948 would herald many
changes. Within the first few years, the ‘’down’’ side structures were mostly
demolished, leaving just the eastern appendix. In June 1955, the platforms
received prefabricated concrete extensions at either end to accommodate
ten-vehicle EPB formations; this brought the platforms right up to the tunnel
portals. In Spring 1960, the main ‘’up’’ building suffered fire, but its
flanking appendices remained unharmed. Although the damage sustained was
repaired, the main structure and its eastern appendix appeared to last little
more than a decade after, and as redevelopment of the general surrounding area
took a hold, these historic buildings were razed to the ground. Of the
buildings, only the western appendix of the ‘’up’’ side remained; all structures
on the ‘’down’’ side had been demolished and its site had become a small forest
of the inner suburbs. Meanwhile, the situation at platform level was less
devastating: the quintessential SER canopies were still in situ and in good
condition, and as per Gravesend Central, the station retained its covered
lattice footbridge.
After the signing of contracts in August 1989 for the construction of the Class
465 units, the ‘’Networker’’ project was in full swing. With this came
significant modernisation of stations, but this was not always for the better.
In 1991, the delightful platform canopies at the Dockyard station were removed,
and the lattice footbridge lost its roof (a feature which is retained at
Gravesend). Consequently, the dreaded bus shelters arrived in force –
thankfully, the sole remaining ‘’up’’ side appendix was retained. The presence
of tunnels at either end of the layout prevented the extension of the platforms
to accommodate twelve vehicle formations of ‘’Networker’’ units. However, this
problem would be overcome by the presence of automatic sliding doors on the then
new type. The driver would be able to operate a selective opening system, which
would see the disabling of those doors which were on vehicles still within the
tunnels. Eventually, twelve vehicle formations were not given clearance to
operate, therefore the platform extension predicament was no longer an issue.
Finally, palisade fencing appeared at street level on the ‘’up’’ side during
2005, but the outline of the now demolished buildings here can still be
deciphered.
An eastward view on 30th May 2006 shows the brick-lined cutting which the platforms are located
in. The sole surviving ''up'' side structure (the ''western appendix'') can clearly be seen, admittedly
in good condition. The lattice footbridge remains, albeit devoid of its roof; the bus shelters either
side of it replaced a traditional SER canopy. Evidence of renewed brickwork can be seen on the
upper walls, whilst the developments of the 1960s and 1970s are all too apparent in the background.
David Glasspool
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