The 200th anniversary of the birth of the railways and the 174th anniversary of the Hastings and Rye to Ashford South Eastern line was celebrated at Rye railway station on February 13.
This week, Rye News celebrates the story of the line through engravings and photos from Rye museum’s collection of images.
The London to Ashford South Eastern line was completed in 1843 with plans to extend it to Hastings via Rye. However work did not start on the extension until 1846 due to a dispute between the London and Brighton Railway and South Eastern Rail about who was to build it. At the same time the Harbour Commission was concerned about building a swing bridge over the river Rother. In order to placate opposition it was agreed that a railway bridge at Landgate would be built over the line and the huge sum of £10,000 (equivalent to £1,154,000 in 2023) was given to the Harbour Commission for harbour works. The estimated cost of the railway was set at £250,000 (equivalent to £29 million in 2023).
As part of the agreement the Rye Corporation persuaded the railway company to build a bridge at Landgate. This meant that a row of alms houses had to be demolished to make way for it, but South Eastern Rail built some on Military Road to replace them (these have since been demolished in turn).
The swing bridge was built in 1851 to enable fixed masted boats to pass along the river. Two men could easily open it in around two and half minutes. This print of 1851 shows the bridge over the Rother with an early engine crossing the single track.
This picture shows the team who were building the new bridge for two rail tracks, before dismantling the old swing bridge over the river Rother, Rye. The new rail bridge was opened in 1903.
The branch line to Rye Harbour, built in 1854, was used to transport freight and was closed in 1960. The Rye to Camber tram, a narrow gauge line that carried small steam trains, was built in 1895 to transport golfers to the Camber golf club and was extended to Camber Sands in 1908, closing in 1939.
A footway bridge was built over the railway at the Ferry Road crossing.
View from the footbridge looking across the station and the railway sidings in the 1890s. There was a coal stage built in 1854 and railway sidings were added in 1874. The sidings included a turntable for trains to Rye Harbour and for the delivery of stock. The cattle and sheep market was situated beside the railway.
The signal box, built in 1893/4, was listed in 2013, and was restored and repainted in 2019.
The rail line was nearly scrapped in Beeching’s 1963 cull of the railways but was given a reprieve as local road connections were considered too poor and bus replacements would take too long. Instead it was made single track for some of the line, between Appledore and Ore, to save on maintenance costs, with a passing loop at Rye. In addition the promised electrification of the line did not materialise. Modernisation came late: Rye station was gaslit until the 70s.
The goods shed in the photo above was closed in 1963 and demolished in 1984 to make way for the supermarket that is now Jempson’s. The Italianate station, built in 1850/1, was designed by William Tress and was Grade II listed in 1980.
Thank you to Rye Castle Museum for the use of the images from their collection. The museum, run almost entirely by volunteers, is at two sites: the Ypres Tower (or castle) and at 3 East Street.
Image Credits: Rye Museum Association , Juliet Duff .
A question – if the swing bridge was demolished in 1893 and the new bridge opened in 1903 was the railway closed for 10 years ?
Thank you Simon – corrections made!
My 3 x great grandfather John Phipps was a platelayer in Rye and lived in Military Road. He died in 1920. Wonder if he’s in that photo
Thank you for a very interesting article and the photos. What vision and investment for the locality.
When did the railway down to Rye Harbour close !
I believe it was 1960.
It officially closed then, but had been moribund for some years, though still with a gated level crossing near ‘Smeaton’s Stores’, which had a sign like a pub’s. As a kid, I would go on the East Kent town service bus from Cadborough Cliff via Tilling Green to the Harbour- wondering if there had once been a tram alternative, like the one across the Rother. But the Harbour branch only carried freight and it faced Hastings, not Rye goods yard.
It did face Hastings, via what’s known as a trailing point which is a common safety feature avoiding accidental derailment of main line trains. Trains would have still approached from the goods yard or Ashford direction if required and reversed down to Rye Harbour – probably using a shunting engine and a train engine at opposite ends
Great pictures. Many of us did not realise their was a line to Rye Harbour. Does anyone have any pictures of that line? Where did the line terminate?
https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/
This has some great aerial photos of Rye. It’s easy to join and no fee is involved.
I believe it was towards the end of Harbour Road, slightly north of the Martello Tower.
The line crossed the main road on the Rye side of the Brede sluice and ran in a curve to the main line running behind the industrial site now earmarked for the proposed development for Aldi etc.
If you stand by the Conqueror pub to your left side and face the river you’ll see a bank. That is where the line terminated and I seem to remember some buffers there.
The harbour branch line closed in 1960. The OS map of 1910 shows it ran to the old ferry near where the lifeboat station now is, with tram branches across the nature reserve – hence Tram Road – and also through the chemical works to a landing stage.
There were, at times, several ‘sidings’ off the main branch – into the chemical (tar) works, behind the church for the shingle and boulder trade etc. The tram referred to in Tram Road was a transfer link to the harbour for loading to ships, including the concrete blocks used for Dover Harbour. The branch line itself ran all the way to the harbour near to the William the Conqueror. You can still walk on part of the embankment there towards the modern day wharf, and on part of the old trackbed via the footpath that runs from the Brede sluice down through the fields towards the industrial estates
Later this year an exhibition at Rye Heritage centre will focus on the railway and will include many photographs including some of the Rye Harbour branch