Here at Lewisham Road, can you hear the echoes of a bygone era? This was once the site of Lewisham Road railway station. It is a place steeped in history. The station opened in 1871. It was part of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. The railway company built a branch line from Nunhead to Greenwich Park.
Lewisham Road station sat on Loampit Hill. It was very close to today’s St. Johns station. The branch line aimed to rival the South Eastern Railway’s line through Greenwich. However, competition led to low usage. The Lewisham Road railway station closed in 1917. This closure was a wartime economy measure.
The line saw a resurgence. It reopened for freight traffic in 1929. Passengers returned in 1935. A new connecting spur and flyover linked it to Lewisham.
Today, the original station building still stands. It now houses a salvage shop. The platforms are gone. Yet, some structures remain on the London-bound side. East of the station, most traces of the branch have vanished. Development has covered much of it. A short embankment survives. It forms part of Brookmill Road Nature Reserve. It lies just north of the spur.
The street-level building was on the line’s north side. It faced Loampit Hill. The structure was brick and timber. A small gated forecourt stood in front. It was set at an angle from Loampit Hill. A covered footbridge provided platform access from the building’s side. The up side had a canopy. The down side lacked any shelter.
After the station’s closure, Boy Scouts leased the roadside building. The platforms were mostly demolished in 1929. The timber building remained. The scouts continued using it. Eventually, the building became a shop. It was first called Furniture Junction. It sold second-hand hardware and salvage. Today, it’s known as Alladins Cave. This shop even won a Time Out Shop of The Year award in 2013.
The Greenwich Park branch had grand plans. Early proposals envisioned a line from Nunhead through Greenwich. It would terminate at the Royal Dockyard in Woolwich. The South Eastern Railway’s extension to Woolwich changed those plans. The London, Chatham & Dover Railway received authorization. They would build a line between Nunhead and Crooms Hill. Parliament approved this in July 1863.
Financial issues caused delays. Construction started in 1871. The branch opened to Blackheath Hill on September 18th. Lewisham Road was the intermediate station. Brockley Lane opened in June 1872. Trains ran every 45 minutes. Most shuttled between Nunhead and Blackheath Hill. Commuters disliked this. They had to change at Nunhead for central London.
Despite poor earnings, the LCDR continued with their Greenwich extension. They obtained a new Act in 1881. Financial difficulties persisted. The extension reached Greenwich Park on October 1st, 1888. A large terminus was built in Stockwell Street. Housing development had overtaken the original Crooms Hill plan.
The extension failed to boost traffic. The line couldn’t compete with the SER’s direct route to central London. Leisure traffic proved more successful. The branch offered a convenient route to Crystal Palace. This was a major tourist spot.
The LCDR and SER merged in 1899. Greenwich was renamed Greenwich Park. Electric trams appeared in 1908. It became clear the line would never be profitable. A push-pull service started in 1913. This was to cut losses. By World War I, a frequent service operated. Both the Greenwich Park and Crystal Palace branches closed on January 1st, 1917. This was a wartime measure. The Crystal Palace service returned in 1919. The Greenwich Park branch never reopened to passengers.
After closure, the line remained open for freight. It went as far as Brockley Lane. The section between Brockley Lane and Lewisham Road stored carriages. There was a plan to electrify and reopen the line. This was quickly abandoned.
In 1927, Southern Railway refurbished the line. This was between Nunhead and Lewisham Road. It was part of a freight operation scheme. A spur was built. It joined the Mid Kent line between St. Johns and Lewisham. The track was re-ballasted and re-laid. It reopened on July 7th, 1929. Parliament formally abandoned the severed section. It was between Lewisham Road and Greenwich Park in 1929. The new loop line improved freight services. Electrification followed in 1935.
Passenger trains used the loop from September 30th, 1935. A peak-hour service ran between Dartford and St. Paul’s. This relieved pressure on overcrowded services. The destination stations were Cannon Street and Charing Cross. This passenger service ended in 1939 due to the war. It returned on August 12th, 1946.
Today, the loop line is a key part of the Southeastern rail network. Trains run between Dartford and Victoria. Since 1929, there have been no plans to reopen Lewisham Road station. It remains a memory. It is a silent witness to the area’s changing fortunes.