19th century railway station at Saffron Walden (EHER 15906)

This railway station was opened in 1865 by the Saffron Walden Railway Company, to serve the newly constructed branch of the Eastern Counties Railway London to Cambridge line. The line closed in 1964 and the station is now in residential use.

2000. Building survey. Railway station opened 1865 by the Saffron Walden Railway Company, forming a branch of Eastern Counties Railway London to Cambridge line. The line closed in 1964. The station is now in residential use. The station buildings at Saffron Walden were the only construction of any architectural significance carried out by the Saffron Walden Railway Company, and the station is therefore the only example of what might be termed a corporate style. The only other stop on the line between Audley End and Bartlow was Ashdon Halt, which consisted of a platform only, to which the body of a disused G.E.R. coach was added to provide a waiting room in 1915. There is no generic link with the style of the Eastern Counties Railway used at Audley End, Great Chesterford, or other nearby stations on the Cambridge to London main line. There is some similarity between the brickwork style and detailing incorporated on the E.C.R. line from Cambridge (Shelford Junction) to Haverhill, as may still be seen at the former station buildings at Linton and Bartlow, although both of these stations utilised hipped roofs, resulting in a different overall architectural form. It is however worthy of note that there is a definite link between the style of the station building and that of the Railway Arms public house on the opposite side of Station Road. <1> <2> See: <3>