Site of late 19th century railway station and railway buildings, Althorne Railway Station (EHER 40543)

Now demolished, but the station remains active. A railway station built by the Great Eastern Railway (GER) as part of the Southminster branch line and opened in 1889. It was built to a standardised pattern but little is left of the original GER buildings. The station buildings have been reduced from the extant shown in the OS map from 1897; the Station Master's house, signal box, cattle pen and sidings are no longer extant. Until sometime around 1997, a shelter reusing the original lamp room remained, however both have been demolished and replaced by a modern brick shelter.

Althorne Station was built following an Act of 1883 which empowered the Great Eastern Railway (GER) to construct a railway line from Shenfield to Southend with a branch from Wickford to Southminster and another branch from Woodham Ferrers to Maldon. These were called the 'New Essex Lines'. The stretch of the line from Wickford (EHER 40526) to Southminster (EHER 40545), including Althorne was opened on the 1st June 1889. The main engineering contractor for the construction of the Southminster branch was Walter Scott and Co and they employed the noted engineer Thomas Middleton who took charge of the stretch from Althorne to Southminster. All the stations were built to a standardised pattern and each were equipped with as a minimum a goods yard, passing loop and signal box. Little is left of the original GER buildings. The station was built with a passing loop and goods yard on the downside and a signal box on the upside; these have since been removed. Until recently a shelter reusing the original lamp room and a toilet remained, however both have been demolished and replaced by a modern brick shelter with a BR (British Rail) double arrow insignia. The platform was extended in 1987 to hold eight carriages and the station house refurbished in 1996. <1> SITE DESCRIPTION: The station platform is on the North side of the track (one photo). And there is a small brick passenger shelter (one photo). ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL: Good SITE SIGNIFICANCE: The lamp room served as the surviving passenger shelter after the demolition of the remaining buildings in around 1968. The station master's house, signal box, cattle pen and sidings are present on the OS map of around 1897 but are no longer extant. CURRENT STATUS: Being maintained as a functioning station. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Monitor and record any development. GRADE: of local importance. <2> <3> See photo <4>. Note: the photo provided by <2> on page 88, and captioned 'Althorne Station, looking west.', is actually a photo of South Woodham Ferrers Station (EHER 40544). Also, though the source cites the Station Master's House as being no longer extant, this may be the building recorded at EHER 41059. NRHE data transfer, summary description: Railway station on the New Essex Railway, opened in 1889. No source provided by NRHE for this information. See also <5>.