Chapeltown Central Railway Station | History and Haunted

This morning I went for a look around this old railway station; the former Chapeltown Central railway station, which closed in 1954, has been listed for auction with a guide price of £250,000.

The station opened in 1854, with the current building dating from 1877, and now lies secluded by woodland off Station Road – about half a mile north of where Chapeltown railway station stands today. The building has been converted into a private three-bedroom home but photos show it still has several original features, including the booking office window and a waiting bench.

The Victorian station master’s house is even reputed to be home to the ghost of a man killed during a World War Two air raid while loading tanks onto a goods train.

Chapeltown Central railway station was situated on the former South Yorkshire Railway’s Blackburn Valley line between Ecclesfield East and Westwood.

The station which was also known as Chapeltown and Thorncliffe was intended to serve Chapeltown, South Yorkshire, England, although about 1 mile (1.6 km) from its centre. It also served the works of Newton, Chambers & Company, one of the largest industrial companies in the area.

The original station which was mainly constructed of wood opened in 1854. The line at the time was only a single track and this was increasingly recognised as a bottleneck so plans were made to double this which began in 1875 and a new larger station was to be built on the north side of the track. The new station was built in the M.S.& L.R.’s Double Pavilion style and the building consisted of a station master’s house, booking office, goods office, and first, second, and third-class waiting rooms. In order to make room for this, an existing goods warehouse was demolished. The short single line platform was replaced by a double (up and down line) platform, an iron footbridge was constructed linking the two platforms, and a new approach road was built from the Sheffield-Barnsley turnpike road. The newly built station was officially opened to passengers on 5 November 1877.

In 1875 during excavations 150 yards east of the station by navvies who were employed to double the track between Grange Lane and Chapeltown they came across the fossilised tree stump of a Giant Club Moss which would have grown tens of metres tall. It was originally taken and displayed at High Hazels Park in Darnall before being transferred to the Sheffield Botanical Gardens in the 1980s where it can still be seen today.

Closure to passengers came on 7 December 1953 and to all traffic in April 1954. The station is now a private residence.

The property is a unique restoration project, and it goes to auction on Monday. I hope whoever purchases this won’t turn into an investment in the way of flats; only time will tell.

What a fantastic time capsule from 40 years ago.