Southwark Park 'ghost' station uncovered by Thameslink workers

[DarloRich]

There is an article on the BBC website entitled: Southwark Park 'ghost' station uncovered by Thameslink workers ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-32382231 ) which is quite interesting andi thouht i would share.

Southwark Park 'ghost' station uncovered by Thameslink workers

Rail workers have discovered a south London "ghost" station which closed a century ago.

Engineers on the Thameslink Programme uncovered the former ticket hall and platforms of Southwark Park station.

The long-lost station only served passengers from 1902 to 1915 before shutting for good.

The £6.5bn Thameslink Programme is rebuilding railway lines from New Cross Gate through London Bridge to Blackfriars and St Pancras.

Located on a viaduct above Rotherhithe New Road, Southwark Park was one of several stations in the area, including Spa Road, which closed because of competition from trams and buses and the outbreak of World War One.

The station was discovered as engineers constructed the Bermondsey Dive Under, which will see two Victorian viaducts partially-demolished....

it relates to Southwark Park station, open between 1902 & 1915, which has been uncovered as part of the construction works for the Bermondsey dive under

 

[steamybrian]

They seem to be making a big headline regarding this "lost station".
The public entrance has always been there albeit bricked up.
The tracks have always widened to go around the site of one of the island platforms.
What they have found is the foundations of the platform which were buried.
It is probably many years since anyone ventured into the site of the old booking hall and never found by vandals or graffiti artists.

In the future we may read further headlines of finding other "ghost stations" .

 

[snowball]

It's based on this press release, which includes a different picture:

http://www.networkrailmediacentre.c...-team-tackles-victorian-viaduct-in-bermondsey

 

[swt_passenger]

Treating it as 'found' or 'discovered' is complete tripe. The structures will have been under an inspection regime ever since closure of the station, as is the former Spa Rd.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Perhaps "lost" is the wrong term, but it certainly isn't as well known to the general population as certain other closed stations (Holborn Viaduct or Bath Green Park for example). I certainly wasn't aware of the past existence of Southwark Park until seeing this thread.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Treating it as 'found' or 'discovered' is complete tripe. The structures will have been under an inspection regime ever since closure of the station, as is the former Spa Rd.

True. I would have used the word "revealed".

 

[swt_passenger]

According to the blogger 'ian visits' who posted about this last month, Southwark Park ticket hall was being used for storage:

Southwark Park’s ticket hall has long since been gutted and used as a storage facility, but the platforms had seemingly vanished forever.
[...]
That is until Network Rail recently uncovered them as they relaid the tracks as part of the London Bridge/Thameslink upgrade programme. They knew the platforms had existed, but were unsure what, if anything remained underneath the ballast that filled the site.

http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2015/03/15/remains-of-a-disused-station-uncovered-by-network-rail/

So presumably the latest 'amazing revelations' are a month old anyway...

Southwark Park and Spa Rd were both on this 'abandoned stations' site:
http://www.abandonedstations.org.uk/Southwark_Park_station.html
... and have been for some time:

 

[455driver]

That paint looks good for 100 years old! :roll:

 

[Busaholic]

The BBC London TV report hinted at a future museum role for the arch and booking hall, although the basis for this was not mentioned, so may be more hope than expectatation. The word 'uncovered' used by the BBC would be the most precise one imo.