Rowsley railway station
| Rowsley | |
|---|---|
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| Location | |
| Area | Derbyshire Dales |
| Coordinates | 53°11′24″N 1°36′50″W / 53.190°N 1.614°WCoordinates: 53°11′24″N 1°36′50″W / 53.190°N 1.614°W |
| Grid reference | SK258659 |
| Operations | |
| Original company | Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway. |
| Pre-grouping | Midland Railway |
| Post-grouping | London, Midland and Scottish Railway |
| Platforms | 2 |
| History | |
| 4 June 1849 | Station opened |
| 1 August 1862 | Closed and reopened with new station |
| 1 September 1867 | Renamed Rowsley for Chatsworth |
| 14 June 1965 | Renamed Rowsley |
| 6 March 1967 | 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 |
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The original Rowsley railway station was opened in 1849 by the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway to serve the village of Rowsley in Derbyshire.
The original plan for the line was to meet the proposed Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway at Ambergate to provide a route from Manchester to the East Coast. The Midland Railway bought shares in the line as it saw an opportunity to run through trains to London. The Manchester and Birmingham Railway, which would provide access from to Manchester over its own line, supported the project for the same reason. However, in 1846 it merged into the new London and North Western Railway which was opposed to any competition into London.
The station however had a busy trade with some sixty or seventy thousand visitors to Chatsworth House each year.
The stalemate lasted until 1862 when the Midland realigned the track and moved to a new station as it extended the line into Buxton. The original station building, which had been designed by Joseph Paxton, was used as a goods office until closure in 1967. It still exists within a shopping centre.
The new station was particularly grand, with large first- and third-class facilities and, unusually, in 1891, a subway between the platforms to cater for dignitaries visiting the Duke of Devonshire.
Finally in 1867 the line reached Manchester and became part of one of the Midland's most prized assets. Besides the London expresses, some of which called at the station, there was substantial goods traffic. This included limestone southwards from the Peak District and, in particular, coal northward from the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Coalfield.
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