Fransham railway station is a former station in

Great Fransham Great Fransham is a village and former civil parish in the England, English county of Norfolk Great Fransham is located west of Dereham and west of Norwich. History Great Fransham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old E ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. It was opened as part of the

Lynn and Dereham Railway The Lynn and Dereham Railway was a standard gauge single track railway running between King's Lynn and Dereham in the English county of Norfolk. The Lynn to Dereham line opened in 1846 and closed in 1968, although the section between Middlet ...

, becoming part of the East Anglian Railway from 1847, on the section of line between Dereham and Swaffham. Oppitz, 1989, page 14

History

The Lynn & Dereham Railway was given the Royal Assent on 21 July 1845, opened in stages between 1846 and 1848, and later became part of the Great Eastern Railway. Hunt's Directory of East Norfolk 1850 shows Edgar Skeit as a "railway clerk". However, White's ''History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk'' 1854 lists Edgar Skeet as being station master at Great Fransham. He would spend over 30 years in this role. He was christened on 20 August 1804 at Ubbeston, Suffolk. William White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk 1883 lists him as still being stationmaster despite being 80 years old. He died in September 1888 aged 84 and is buried in the North East corner of Beeston churchyard. In the early days, four passenger trains and one goods train would pass through the station each way daily giving ten movements. Great Fransham was a halt between the two major junctions of

East Dereham Dereham (), also known historically as East Dereham, is a town and civil parish in the Breckland District of the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, about west of the city of Norwich and east of King's Lynn. The civi ...

and

Swaffham Swaffham () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District and England, English county of Norfolk. It is situated east of King's Lynn and west of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of and in the U ...

. The station also had a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

. The original intention of the company had been to extend their line to Great Yarmouth, via Norwich, but this plan was blocked by the rival Wymondham to Dereham scheme proposed by the Norfolk Railway. The line was closed to passenger and freight services by the

Eastern Region of British Railways The Eastern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948, whose operating area could be identified from the dark blue signs and colour schemes that adorned its station and other railway buildings. Together with the North Eastern Region (w ...

after last train on Saturday 7 September 1968. It was closed as part of the

Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...

, despite Beeching's report intending to retain the King's Lynn - Dereham - Norwich line. Some items of rolling stock are kept at the station, although not on public display. For a while the station was home to an unrestored 1916

Hudswell Clarke Hudswell, Clarke and Company Limited was an engineering and locomotive building company in Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. History The company was founded as Hudswell and Clarke in 1860. In 1870 the name was changed to Hu ...

0-6-0 is the Whyte notation designation for steam locomotives with a wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. Historically, this was the most common wheel arrangement used o ...

ST, works number 1208. This was the last surviving locomotive from the

Nidd Valley Light Railway Nidd Valley Light Railway was a light railway in upper Nidderdale in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was owned by Bradford Corporation Waterworks Department and the corporation also operated its public passenger services. Power & Tract ...

. It has since been purchased and removed for future use on the

Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway The Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway (E&BASR) is a heritage railway in North Yorkshire, England, formed in 1979 and opened in 1981. The preserved railway was part of the former Midland Railway route from Skipton to Ilkley which was clos ...

.Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway: Illingworth / Mitchell
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Rolling stock

Passenger vehicles

References

Bibliography

External links

{{coord, 52.6862, 0.7925, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Disused railway stations in Norfolk Former Great Eastern Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1848 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1968 1848 establishments in England 1968 disestablishments in England