Desborough railway station explained

Desborough and Rothwell
Status:	Disused
Borough:	Desborough, North Northamptonshire
Country:	England
Platforms:	2
Original:	Midland Railway
Pregroup:	Midland Railway
Postgroup:	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Years:	8 May 1857
Events:	Opened as Desborough
Years1:	1 October 1857
Events1:	Renamed Desborough for Rothwell
Years2:	17 October 1899
Events2:	Renamed Desborough and Rothwell
Years3:	1 January 1968
Events3:	Closed

Desborough railway station was built by the Midland Railway on its extension from Leicester to Bedford and Hitchin.

History

The station opened on 8 May 1857^[1] as Desborough. It was renamed on 1 October the same year as Desborough for Rothwell.

On 20 May 1899, Elizabeth Palmer and her five-year-old child, Dixon Palmer, were hit by a fish train whilst crossing the line at the station to get to the opposite platform and killed instantly.^[2] By August 1899 the Midland Railway Company had received instructions from the Board of Trade to erect a footbridge over the line.^[3]

In response to a requisition from the ratepayers of Rothwell, the Midland Railway Company decided to inaugurate a bus service between Rothwell and Desborough station in 1899.^[4] The station was renamed Desborough and Rothwell on 17 October 1899.^[5]

The station closed in 1968.^[6] The station building still stands but the goods yard area is now built-over, mainly given over to a Co-op Food store and its car park. The remainder of the area is occupied by Albany Sheds.

Stationmasters

• Samuel Buxton ca. 1858 - 1862^[7] (afterwards station master at Hassop)
• G. Rawlings from 1862^[7] (formerly station master at Wigston)
• Thomas Gadsby ca. 1870^[8] - 1899^[9]
• William Samuel Orchard 1899^[9] - 1908^[5] (afterwards station master at Clay Cross)
• Percy R. Handscomb 1908^[5] - 1928^[10]
• C.G. Tompkins from 1928^[11] (formerly station master at Weedon)
• Alfred Jones 1941^[12] - 1947 (formerly station master at Mostyn, afterwards station master at Lichfield City)
• Cyril Breeze ca. 1963

Further reading

• Desborough 'No!'. Rail Enthusiast. EMAP National Publications. April 1983. 46. 0262-561X. 49957965.

52.4445°N -0.8188°W

Notes and References

1. News: . Opening of the Leicester and Hitchin Line . Bedfordshire Mercury . British Newspaper Archive . 9 May 1857 . 5 July 2016 .
2. News: . Shocking Double Fatality at Desborough Station. Woman and Child Killed . Northampton Mercury . England . 26 May 1899 . 15 February 2017 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
3. News: . About Town and County . Northampton Mercury . England . 18 August 1899 . 15 February 2017 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
4. News: . Kettering . Stamford Mercury . England . 8 September 1899 . 15 February 2017 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
5. . 1899 . 1899-1908 Coaching; Piece 1027 . Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts . 669 . 31 January 2022.
6. Radford, B., (1983) Midland Line Memories: a Pictorial History of the Midland Railway Main Line Between London (St Pancras) & Derby London: Bloomsbury Books
7. . 1914 . 1859-1866 . Midland Railway Miscellaneous Depts . 175 . 31 January 2022.
8. . 1871 . 1871-1879 Coaching . Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts . 522 . 31 January 2022.
9. . 1881 . 1881-1898 Coaching . Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts . 701 . 31 January 2022.
10. News: . Death of Desborough Station Master . Market Harborough Advertiser and Midland Mail . England . 25 May 1928 . 31 January 2022 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
11. News: . Weedon Stationmaster . Northampton Mercury . England . 28 September 1928 . 31 January 2022 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
12. News: . Presentation to Station Master . Flintshire County Herald . England . 6 June 1941 . 31 January 2022 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .