Christ's Hospital railway station

Christ's Hospital railway station is near Horsham, West Sussex. It was opened in 1902 by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) and was intended primarily to serve Christ's Hospital, a large independent school which had moved to the area in that year. It now also serves the rural area to the west of Horsham. In order to alight from the train here, one must travel in the first seven carriages as the station has a short platform.

Opened originally as "Christ's Hospital West Horsham", the station was until the mid-1960s an important junction with, in addition to the existing link to Arundel via Pulborough, connections to Guildford via Cranleigh and Brighton via Shoreham.

History

The belief that the school's arrival would generate substantial passenger traffic, and that the growing town of Horsham would expand westwards, led the LBSCR to invest £30,000 into constructing a magnificent station building with a goods yard and facilities. Previously there had been no station at this point, only a small wooden platform which was used by a local dairy to ferry milk to London; this platform had fallen into disuse upon the bankruptcy of the dairy.

The magnificent red brick station, reflecting the LBSCR's aspirations for the area, was constructed using bricks supplied by the nearby Southwater Brickworks. Five through tracks were laid which served seven facing platforms. Three...
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