Helston railway station was the terminus of the

Helston Railway The Helston Railway is a heritage railway in Cornwall which aims to rebuild and preserve as much as possible of the former GWR Helston Railway between Nancegollen and Water-Ma-Trout on the outskirts of Helston. It is operated by the Helston ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, United Kingdom, which opened on the 9 May 1887 and during its time of operation was the most southerly railway station on the UK mainland. The line was operated by the Great Western Railway and was absorbed by that company in 1898. It closed to passengers on the 5 November 1962 and to freight on the 5 October 1964. Despite being a terminus station, Helston was built in the same manner as other stations ( Praze and

Nancegollan Nancegollan ( kw, Nansigolen) is a village in the civil parish of Crowan in west Cornwall, England. Nancegollan is on the B3303 road and south-east of Leedstown. The railway line from Helston to Hayle passed through the village (closed in 1964 ...

) on the line as a through station. This came from the original plan that the line would head towards

The Lizard The Lizard ( kw, An Lysardh) is a peninsula in southern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The most southerly point of the British mainland is near Lizard Point at SW 701115; Lizard village, also known as The Lizard, is the most southerl ...

but this never happened and the station remained unchanged and always looked like a 'through' station until closure. The station secured its place in history when it became the first place in the country with a railway-operated bus service. These

GWR road motor services The Great Western Railway road motor services operated from 1903 to 1933 by the Great Western Railway, both as a feeder to their train services, and as a cheaper alternative to building new railways in rural areas. They were the first successful ...

met trains at the station and carried passengers on towards The Lizard.

Description

The station building was constructed of stone with a slate roof and four chimneys. On the platform side of the building a cantilever canopy ran for the full length of the building while a small canopy supported on brackets was provided over the main entrance. A

post box A post box (British English; also written postbox; also known as pillar box), also known as a collection box, mailbox, letter box or drop box (American English) is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail inten ...

was located on the end of the building. Opposite the station building was the goods shed, and at the up end of the platform was a signal box of brick and timber construction and an

engine shed The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

built of stone of sufficient size for a single engine with a water tower immediately in front. Further goods facilities were provided with a short good platform and a crane in the goods yard. The very furthest part of the line, and thus the most southerly point of any railway in mainland

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

was occupied by a carriage shed which was beyond the platform. When constructed, this was the only building within the Helston rural district, the boundary of which passed between the carriage shed and the platform. The site of the station is now part of an old people's home. Part of the platform survives, along with the goods shed. There are still some rails embedded as boundary markers in the local area.

Station Masters

The following people are known to have been Stations Masters at Helston Station. *Lawrence C.W. Reed 1887 - 1889 (afterwards station master at Camborne) *W.J. Cowan 1889- 1902 *Dan Silvester 1902 - 1909 (afterwards station master at Liskeard) *F.W. French ca. 1910 - 1929 *Frederick Reginald Sherman 1929 - 1935 (afterwards station master at Redruth) *C.H. Grant 1935 - ca. 1945 *W.H.S. Reynolds until 1950 *Arthur L.B. Bower from 1950 (formerly station master at Monmouth)

References

External links

Helston station on navigable 1946 O. S. map
Disused railway stations in Cornwall Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1887 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1962 Helston {{cornwall-struct-stub