Despite John Clare's well-known, but brief, encounter with
railway surveyors in woodland at Helpston in 1825, no lines were
built locally until the 'Mania' of the 1840's. These were:
- A) The branch line from Northampton, promoted by the London
& Birmingham Railway Company, (the LNWR from 1846). Authorised
in 1843, and opened in 1845, the line terminated at Peterborough
East Station [a small section of this line is now the Nene Valley
preserved railway].
- B) The branch line from Ely, promoted by the Eastern Counties
Railway Company, (the GER from 1862). Authorised in 1844, and
opened in 1846, it also terminated at the East Station, which was
principally owned and built by this Company.
- C) The branch from Syston (Leicester), promoted by the Syston
& Peterborough Railway Company, (effectively a subsidiary of
Midland Rly Co). Authorised in 1845 and opened throughout in 1848,
this line also initially terminated at the East Station; later a
platform and then station buildings were erected near the North
Station.
- D) The main line from London-York promoted by the Great
Northern Railway Company Authorised in 1846, but opened in stages
between October 1848 and August 1852 when the line was completed
throughout. Used the East Station from 1848 to 1850, then the
Peterborough North Station, when opened in1850.
- There was one later branch line:
- E) The branch line from Wisbech, promoted by the Peterborough,
Wisbech & Sutton Bridge Railway Company, was authorised in 1863
and opened in 1866. The owning company later became the Eastern
& Midland Rly Co (1883-1893) then as the Midland & Great
Northern Joint Rly Co (1893-1922).
And there was one other major branch line within our area:
- F) The line from Stamford to Wansford, promoted by the Stamford
& Essendine Rlaiywa Company; authorised in 1864 and opened in
1867.
When the 1921 Railway Act came into force on 1, January 1923,
all the companies were amalgamated into one of four groups; (B),
(D), (E) and (F) came principally within the London & North
Eastern Railway Company (LNER), whilst most of (A) and (C) came
within the London, Midland & Scottish Railway Company (LMS).
Then on 1, January 1948 all became British Railways until
privatisation began to take affect in 1994.
There were two major areas of railway complexes, of which the
earliest was that around the East Station (closed 1966). Here the
station, engine sheds, goods sheds and other facilities were shared
by the LNWR, GER and by the MR (although by the 1870's the MR were
developing facilities near the North Station). Also here was a
group of sidings, 15 GER houses, and a number of privately owned
wagon works.
The other major complex stretched from the river, past the North
Station and up to New England; on the west side was the Crescent
Station (c1858-1866) of the MR and their engines shed (built 1871),
whilst on the east side was the GNR's property. This comprised the
massive sheet stores (c1893 and c1898), the stores buildings of
1864, goods sheds, the North Station, the Great Northern Hotel,
engine shed, District Engineers Depot, vast areas of sidings (much
of it accommodating coal traffic), and at New England itself, there
were engine sheds for freight engines (from 1852), workshops for
repairing engines, carriages, etc (from 1858), plus some 230 Great
Northern employees houses, a school and gasworks.
Many proposed plans for the Peterborough railways were deposited
with the Clerk of the Peace, and can be found within Quarter
Session Records including Northamptonshire, Leicestershire,
Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Quarter Sessions records.
Eye Green former station and goods yard
- Details of the sale of this yard
Held at Peterborough Archives Service
An inventory of this collection is available for consultation in
the Local Studies and Archive Room at Peterborough Central
Library.
In relation to Peterborough railways, Peterborough Central
Library holds:
House of Lords Parliamentary Committee Minutes of Evidence
Concerning Railway Bills
- Blisworth - Peterborough Railway, June 1843.
- Syston - Peterborough Railway, June 1845.
- London - York Railway, May 1846.
Available on microfilm.
British Railways
- c.1960's: correspondence files with accompanying schedule.
British Railways Property Board
Files of correspondence and plans relating to:
- Peterborough Inner Relief Road and Station Area
c.1960's-1970's; Rationalisation/Re-signalling and various others
c.1970's; Mayor's Walk 1951-1973; Local villages 1931-1960; Fletton
1947-1964; Fletton Avenue 1971-1973; New England-Spital
1954-1966.
Printed sources:
- "Important goods traffic centres. No 1: Peterborough (GNR)" by
Frank Burt, in, Railway Magazine, January 1907;
pp64-68.
- "The railways of Peterborough" by CR Clinker & RA Dane, in,
Railway Magazine, April 1959; pp223-230.
- Railways of Peterborough by RA Dane. (Peterborough
Arts Council, 1978).
- Rail Centre: Peterborough by P Waszak. (Ian Allen,
1984).
For New England, see:
- "The locomotive depot of the Great Northern Railway at New
England" by CS Lake, in Railway Magazine, January 1918;
pp1-8.
- The history of New England. (New England School Old
Boys, 1958).
- 'New England, Peterborough' by PJ Waszak, in, Railway
World, April 1984;pp174-179.
There are also histories of each railway company, but most treat
Peterborough very sparingly except for those on the GNR. For a
modern, comprehensive, history of this line, see:
- The Great Northern Railway by John Wrottesley. (3
vols, Batsford, 1979-81).
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