Blake Hall tube station

Blake Hall
Blake Hall
Location of Blake Hall in Essex
Location Greensted
Local authority Epping Forest
Owner Great Eastern Railway
Number of platforms 1
Key dates
24 April 1865 (1865-04-24) Opened
2 November 1981 (1981-11-02) Closed
Replaced by None
Other information
Lists of stations
WGS84 51°42′41″N 0°12′16″E / 51.7113°N 0.2044°E / 51.7113; 0.2044Coordinates: 51°42′41″N 0°12′16″E / 51.7113°N 0.2044°E / 51.7113; 0.2044
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Blake Hall is a disused station on the London Underground located near the village of Bobbingworth in Essex, approximately 24 miles (39 km) northeast of Charing Cross.[1][2] It was latterly on the Central line, between North Weald and Ongar, but was originally served by the Epping Ongar Railway branch line.[3]

It was opened in 1865 and named after Blake Hall, a country house located a mile or so to the northeast and inhabited by a family of substantial local land-owners. The station was closed in 1981.

History

Blake Hall station, 1923
View westward, towards Epping in 1961

Blake Hall station was opened by the Great Eastern Railway on 1 April 1865,[4] serving principally as a goods yard carrying agricultural produce from the nearby farms into London.[5] Steam locomotives operated by British Railways for the Underground ran a shuttle service from Epping to Ongar, stopping at Blake Hall, from 1949 until 1957, when the line was electrified and taken over by the Underground's Central line.[6] On 18 April 1966 the goods yard was closed and Blake Hall became a dedicated passenger station. On 17 October 1966, Sunday services were withdrawn.[7]

Blake Hall became reputed as the least-used station on the entire Underground network. Fare subsidies provided on the rest of the system were not provided on this part of the line because local government agencies for Essex and London failed to agree on their respective public transport responsibilities, and Blake Hall station was located a considerable distance from any substantial settlement. By the time services were permanently discontinued on 31 October 1981,[8] the station was reported to have only 17 passengers per day. The station was permanently closed down on 2 November 1981.[9] The Epping to Ongar branch line was closed 13 years later, on 30 September 1994.[10]

Blake Hall's station building has since been converted into a private home. The small coal depot at the western end of the station was closed in the early 1960s, soon after the line's electrification, and the passenger platform has been demolished.

The line passing the station site is now privately owned and operated as a heritage railway by the Epping Ongar Railway, and although the platform was reinstated in May 2012 this is for aesthetic purposes only, and the station remains closed.[11]

See also

References

Notes
Bibliography
  • Brown, Joe (November 2006). London Railway Atlas. Hersham, UK: Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7110-3137-1. 0611/3. 
  • Bruce, J. Graeme; Croome, Desmond F. (2006) [1996]. The Central Line (2nd ed.). Harrow, London: Capital Transport. ISBN 1-85414-297-6. 
  • Croome, Desmond F.; Jackson, A.A. (1981). Rails through the Clay. Harrow, UK: Capital Transport Publishing. ISBN 1-85414-151-1. 
  • Day, John R.; Reed, John (2005) [1963]. The Story of London's Underground (9th ed.). Harrow, London: Capital Transport. ISBN 1-85414-289-5. 
  • Hardy, Brian, ed. (March 2011). "How it used to be - freight on The Underground 50 years ago". Underground News. London Underground Railway Society (591). ISSN 0306-8617. 
  • Horne, M.A.C. (1987). A Short History of the Central Line. London Transport/Douglas Rose & Nebulous Books. ISBN 0-85329-055-5. 
  • Menear, L. (1983). London Underground Stations: a social and architectural study. Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK: Midas. ISBN 0-85936-124-1. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blake Hall tube station.
Disused railways
Preceding station   London Underground   Following station
towards Epping
Central line
Epping-Ongar branch
Terminus
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