Tongham railway station was a railway station serving the village of

Tongham Tongham is a village northeast of the town of Farnham in Surrey, England. The village's buildings occupy most of the west of the civil parish, adjoining the A31 and the A331. The boundaries take in Poyle Park in the east and the replacement to ...

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

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 ...

which opened in 1856 and closed in 1937.

History

The station was opened in 1856 by the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

(LSWR) as one of two intermediate stops on a now-closed section of the LSWR's Guildford to Alton line. Architecturally, Tongham station was similar to Ash Green Halt in that the main station building was situated at street level on a road bridge crossing the line, with a covered staircase leading down to the Up platform. The station was equipped with two platforms, with several sidings to the east of the station as well as the line to the Gas Works which led off to the north-west from the Up line; a short siding also led into Hyde's dog biscuit factory situated to the west of the station. Tongham station, along with Farnborough (Main), was one of the first railheads for the military traffic associated with the recently established army camps at

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

. Its significance was drastically reduced, both as a station and as part of a through route, with the opening of

Aldershot railway station Aldershot railway station is located near the town centre of Aldershot in Hampshire, England. It is down the line from . It is on the Alton Line, part of the National Rail network, with train services and station facilities provided by South ...

in 1870 on a new more direct line from Pirbright Junction on the London to Basingstoke line which linked with the Guildford to Alton line between Tongham and

Farnham Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tri ...

, effectively bypassing the short section. This was followed in 1879 by the laying of a spur from

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

to Aldershot which had the effect of diminishing the

to Farnham traffic. Although a short branch was laid from Tongham to serve the nearby Aldershot Gas Works in 1898, the line became a forgotten byway and was singled in 1930. Passenger services ceased in 1937 as a consequence of electrification of other lines in the vicinity, but Tongham remained open to serve the Gas Works until its closure in 1954.Tongham Wood Improvement Group Accessed 31 August 2007
/ref> With the closure of the Gas Works,

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British ...

decided that the twice-weekly goods service was no longer justified and the last service ran on 31 December 1960. The station has been demolished and the course of the line to the west is largely taken up by the

A331 The A331 Highway, also known as the Vilyuy Highway, is a highway in Russia connecting Yakutsk to Tulun, the highway is 1,166 km (724 mi), the road is paved for first 31 mi from Yakutsk Yakutsk (russian: Якутск, p=jɪˈkut ...

"Blackwater Valley Relief Road" which links the A31 Hogs Back Road with the M3 motorway. A footpath passes to the west of the station. The road bridge which crossed the former railway line was demolished in 1994.Harding, P.A., op. cit. p. 29.

References

{{coord, 51.2340, -0.7321, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Disused railway stations in Surrey Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1856 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1937 1849 establishments in England Former London and South Western Railway stations