Desborough and Rothwell
Remains of the station in 1993
General information
LocationDesborough, North Northamptonshire
England
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyMidland Railway
Pre-groupingMidland Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
8 May 1857Opened as Desborough
1 October 1857Renamed Desborough for Rothwell
17 October 1899Renamed Desborough and Rothwell
1 January 1968Closed

Desborough railway station was built by the Midland Railway on its extension from Leicester to Bedford and Hitchin.

History

The station opened on 8 May 1857[1] as Desborough. It was renamed on 1 October the same year as Desborough for Rothwell.

On 20 May 1899, Elizabeth Palmer and her five-year-old child, Dixon Palmer, were hit by a fish train whilst crossing the line at the station to get to the opposite platform and killed instantly.[2] By August 1899 the Midland Railway Company had received instructions from the Board of Trade to erect a footbridge over the line.[3]

In response to a requisition from the ratepayers of Rothwell, the Midland Railway Company decided to inaugurate a bus service between Rothwell and Desborough station in 1899.[4] The station was renamed Desborough and Rothwell on 17 October 1899.[5]

The station closed in 1968.[6] The station building still stands but the goods yard area is now built-over, mainly given over to a Co-op Food store and its car park. The remainder of the area is occupied by Albany Sheds.

Stationmasters

  • Samuel Buxton ca. 1858 - 1862[7] (afterwards station master at Hassop)
  • G. Rawlings from 1862[7] (formerly station master at Wigston)
  • Thomas Gadsby ca. 1870[8] - 1899[9]
  • William Samuel Orchard 1899[9] - 1908[5] (afterwards station master at Clay Cross)
  • Percy R. Handscomb 1908[5] - 1928[10]
  • C.G. Tompkins from 1928[11] (formerly station master at Weedon)
  • Alfred Jones 1941[12] - 1947 (formerly station master at Mostyn, afterwards station master at Lichfield City)
  • Cyril Breeze ca. 1963
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Market Harborough   Midland Railway
Midland Main Line		   Glendon and Rushton

References

  1. ↑ "Opening of the Leicester and Hitchin Line". Bedfordshire Mercury. British Newspaper Archive. 9 May 1857. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  2. ↑ "Shocking Double Fatality at Desborough Station. Woman and Child Killed". Northampton Mercury. England. 26 May 1899. Retrieved 15 February 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ↑ "About Town and County". Northampton Mercury. England. 18 August 1899. Retrieved 15 February 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ↑ "Kettering". Stamford Mercury. England. 8 September 1899. Retrieved 15 February 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. 1 2 3 "1899-1908 Coaching; Piece 1027". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 669. 1899. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  6. ↑ Radford, B., (1983) Midland Line Memories: a Pictorial History of the Midland Railway Main Line Between London (St Pancras) & Derby London: Bloomsbury Books
  7. 1 2 "1859-1866". Midland Railway Miscellaneous Depts: 175. 1914. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  8. ↑ "1871-1879 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 522. 1871. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  9. 1 2 "1881-1898 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 701. 1881. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  10. ↑ "Death of Desborough Station Master". Market Harborough Advertiser and Midland Mail. England. 25 May 1928. Retrieved 31 January 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ↑ "Weedon Stationmaster". Northampton Mercury. England. 28 September 1928. Retrieved 31 January 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ↑ "Presentation to Station Master". Flintshire County Herald. England. 6 June 1941. Retrieved 31 January 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Further reading

52°26′40″N 0°49′08″W / 52.4445°N 0.8188°W / 52.4445; -0.8188


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