Maldon East and Heybridge railway station

Maldon East and Heybridge
Location
Place	Maldon
Area	Maldon
Operations
Original company	Eastern Counties Railway Maldon, Witham & Braintree Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway Eastern Region of British Railways
Platforms	2
History
2 October 1848	Opened as Maldon
1 October 1889	Renamed Maldon East
1 Oct 1907	Renamed Maldon East and Heybridge
7 September 1964	Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

Maldon East and Heybridge railway station served the town of Maldon, Essex. It was opened in 1848 by the Maldon, Witham & Braintree Railway (MWBR) on a branch line from Witham to Maldon West. It was originally named Maldon but was renamed Maldon East in 1889 and then Maldon East and Heybridge in 1907.

It was a terminus station located at the end of two branch lines from Witham and Woodham Ferrers. A plan dated 1920 shows that the station had a goods shed and a two-road engine shed. A turntable was situated adjacent to the station building and there were sidings that served the Blackwater Canal and the river wharf.

Both lines and the station closed to passenger services in 1964 as part of the Beeching closures.

The station building at Maldon is an impressive example of Victorian railway architecture. The reason behind this is during the 1847 election the potential MP (David Waddington a vice-chair of the Eastern Counties Railway) was looking to woo his constituents. A lot of local people found employment on the construction of the railway and it was reported in an investigation into the election afterwards that some of these were not actually fit to do the work they were paid for. The station building was built in the Jacobean style, with a large booking hall, waiting rooms and ticket office on the ground floor. The upper floor contained the station master’s apartments which were reached by a winding staircase from the booking hall. Originally the single platform was partly covered by a glass roof but this was removed after an explosion of an engine boiler caused significant damage.

A second bay platform was added in 1889.

The branch from Witham was part of a scheme to link Braintree (“the granary of Essex”) with its traditional port at Maldon. The scheme started in 1845 as a direct link from Braintree rather than the two branches that were actually built. It soon ran into financial trouble and was taken over by the Eastern Counties Railway keen to ensure there was no competition for its own interests. And this was before work actually started

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