Location of disused halts on the portsmouth direct line

Woodcroft Halt railway station was a former railway halt located in the parish of

Buriton Buriton () is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is located 2 miles (3.3 km) south of Petersfield. History About a mile north-west of Buriton was the extensive manor of West Mapledurham, f ...

between

Rowlands Castle Rowlands Castle is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 2.9 miles (4.7 km) north of Havant, on the Hampshire/West Sussex border. The focal point of the village is the village green which i ...

and

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own Petersfield railway station, railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rai ...

on the Portsmouth Direct Line.

History

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in 1940, the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

requisitioned Ditcham Park, a nearby country house for use as a

convalescent home A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...

for sailors (the house is now a

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

). The halt was built to serve Ditcham Park, principally for trains from the extensive

naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

facilities in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

about away. ''Woodcroft Halt'', which was also known as ''Ditcham Park Halt'', opened on 4 October 1943, and closed on 1 October 1945. Because of its naval nature, it was featured on few maps, but some maps did mark it by a little tab without a name. It was closed in 1945 and subsequently demolished; just a footbridge remains.

Location

The halt was located from

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

, at which is now marked on the OS 1:25000 map as "Woodcroft Farm". The stations to either side were and .

Notes

References

External links

* Buritan Heritage Bank
Information Sheet No. 14 Ditcham
*

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

WW2 People's War
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Picture of Ditcham Park School
at Geograph Britain and Ireland">Geograph Geograph Britain and Ireland is a Web application, web-based project, begun in March 2005, to create a freely accessible archive of geographically located photographs of Great Britain and Ireland. Photographs in the Geograph collection are cho ...