Part 1 (this page) Part
2
The genesis of the Croydon, Merstham & Godstone Railway was a plan
to build a canal from the Thames to the British Navy yard at
Portsmouth. This would allow supplies and men to be transported
between the two locations without hindrance from hostile French Navy
vessels in the English Channel.
The plan was to extend the Surrey Canal, which ran from Rotherhithe to
Croydon. However, the Surrey Canal faced serious water shortages,
and any extension to it would suffer from the same problem. The
practical solution was to extend the Surrey Iron Railway towards the
coast, the first part of which was to be the Croydon, Merstham &
Godstone Railway. The next phase was to be a further extension as
far as Reigate, a map for which is in the Surrey History Centre, but
this extension was never built.
Plaque at Quality Street, Merstham, in 1984.
A meeting was held in the
Spread Eagle Hotel at Wandsworth on 3rd June 1802 to consider
the proposal to extend the Surrey Iron Railway line to Portsmouth.
Following this meeting a report was presented on 7th
October 1802.
The
suggested line was from the SIR at Croydon to Reigate via Merstham, with
a branch to Godstone.
Example plate on display in Quality
Street, Merstham, in 1984.
William Jessop
(engineer of the
Surrey Iron Railway)
and Josias Jessop
were to be the engineers of the new line and a petition went to
parliament on 13th December 1802 which was passed as Act 43
Geo III, c.35 and became law on 17th May 1803 as The Croydon,
Merstham & Godstone Iron Railway Company.
Tenders
were invited for the building of the line and the Butterley Company won
the contract at £36,350.
The ruling gradient on the line was 1 in 144,
which resulted in a 30' deep cutting north of Merstham and a 20'
embankment with an archway over the Chipstead Valley Road at Smitham
Bottom, near the Red Lion. Work was completed in August 1805 at a cost
of £41,800.
Example track on display in Quality
Street, Merstham, in 1984
The line was double track
8.75 miles long at 4'2" gauge.
Wagons had gross weight of 3 tons and were normally hauled in
trains of five by one horse.
Track at Quality Street, Merstham, on 8th
June 1991.
Example track on display in Quality
Street, Merstham, in 1984
The line closed in 1837 (or 1838 according to some
sources). The canal basin at Croydon was filled in
and is today the site of West Croydon station. Tramway Road
in Croydon was renamed and is today Church Road.
The track is on display in this
garden in Quality
Street, Merstham. 8th June 1991.
Following the advent of the steam railway locomotive it was not long
before the promoters of the London & Brighton Railway proposed to
build part of their line on land belonging to the Croydon, Merstham & Godstone Railway, the
purchase occurred in 1837 or 1838.
Track at Quality Street, Merstham, on 8th
June 1991.
A section of track is on display in the Rotary Field, Purley, and
another was in a small public garden in Quality Street, Merstham (near the original
route, but not on it).
Much of the line's earthworks can be traced between Purley and Merstham,
including a small overbridge. Little remains of the firestone
quarry area at Merstham due to the construction there of the M25
motorway.
Track at Quality
Street, Merstham, 8th June 1991.
A section of track is on display in the Rotary Field, Purley, and
another is in a small public garden in Quality Street, Merstham (near the original
route, but not on it).
Preserved track at Quality
Street, Merstham, 27th December 1988.
Much of the line's earthworks can be traced between Purley and Merstham,
including a small overbridge. Little remains of the firestone
quarry area at Merstham due to the construction there of the M25
motorway.
Example track on display in Quality
Street, Merstham, in 1984.
The Croydon, Merstham & Godstone Railway was an extension to the Surrey
Iron Railway.
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2
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