Stations which have given their name to a settlement they serve

[CPG]

Avonmouth didn’t exist as a settlement, or a placename, before the arrival of the railway in 1865,which led to the subsequent construction of the docks. Similarly, there was no settlement called Severn Beach before the railway. A terminus now, of course, but the site of Severn beach was open fields on a through freight line from Pilning to Avonmouth, until someone had the idea to install a platform and develop an estuary-side resort and call it Severn Beach. The current village was established as a result.

 

[matchmaker]

Lenzie. The Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway offered discounted travel to commuters who built a house there.

 

[M&NEJ]

I don't think Morecambe has been mentioned so far; but I think it may qualify. The original railway came to a pier on Morecambe Bay, adjacent to the small fishing village of Poulton-le-Sands. After the railway came, the village grew into a town and called itself Morecambe.

 

[Snow1964]

Woking did't exist, the original station was named after nearby Woking Common, there wasn't a town called Woking.

New Milton was originally named after a village called Milton, about mile away on Lymington-Christchurch Road. A small shop & Post Office opened near the station and allegedly a rail official walked in and owner said it was new Milton post office, meaning a new post office at Milton. The LSWR then renamed station as New Milton which is name now used for town.

 

[Kingston Dan]

New Holland was apparently named after Holland Gin.

 

[Bletchleyite]

New Holland was apparently named after Holland Gin.

I always wondered about that one, wondered if it was to do with ships from there.

 

[Fenchurch SP]

Redhill station was named after the nearby Redhill Common and was in a rural area to the east of the town of Reigate. The settlement called Warwick Town near the station later adopted the name of Redhill.

 

[hermit]

New Barnet and New Southgate started life as stations and then became distinct suburbs.

 

[Rescars]

Redhill station was named after the nearby Redhill Common and was in a rural area to the east of the town of Reigate. The settlement called Warwick Town near the station later adopted the name of Redhill.

Further up the line, there was so little of Purley that the station opened as Godstone Road. It then became Caterham Junction before being renamed Purley in 1888.

 

[norbitonflyer]

An instance of a borough - Brent - taking its name from one part of the area and leading to conceptual (and geographical) confusion. Like Camden, the borough named after Camden Town - lots of strange conversations round my way [elsewhere in that borough] between tourists and pedantic locals... (Yes, I'm a pedantic local.)

Similar confusion in SW Lonbdon, where places like Twickenham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames are erroneously referred to as being in Surrey. Being on the right bank of the Thames, Richmond itself was historically (pre 1965) in Surrey and has a Surrey postal address, (although counties are not required in postal addresses now, "Richmond" has to be distinguished from its older namesake in Yorkshire, and "Surrey" is shorter than "Upon Thames"). However, most of the borough is on the left bank and therefore in what used to be Middlesex - it was never in Surrey.

 

[Ken H]

What about Ribblehead? Was that a name pre railway? There are still arguments about where the Ribble rises. It aint at Ribblehead.

 

[Mikey C]

Similar confusion in SW Lonbdon, where places like Twickenham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames are erroneously referred to as being in Surrey. Being on the right bank of the Thames, Richmond itself was historically (pre 1965) in Surrey and has a Surrey postal address, (although counties are not required in postal addresses now, "Richmond" has to be distinguished from its older namesake in Yorkshire, and "Surrey" is shorter than "Upon Thames"). However, most of the borough is on the left bank and therefore in what used to be Middlesex - it was never in Surrey.

To confuse things more, Middlesex play the occasional cricket match at Richmond Cricket Ground, as Richmond Cricket club play in the Middlesex league, despite being on the wrong side of the river!

 

[zwk500]

To confuse things more, Middlesex play the occasional cricket match at Richmond Cricket Ground, as Richmond Cricket club play in the Middlesex league, despite being on the wrong side of the river!

Plenty of examples of that in sports - Berwick-Upon-Tweed's football team play in the scottish leagues. My rugby club (MK) 1st XV used to play in the Beds/Bucks/Oxon league but the 2nd XV plays in the Northamptonshire/East Mids league, because we're right on the border.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

What about Ribblehead? Was that a name pre railway? There are still arguments about where the Ribble rises. It aint at Ribblehead.

Originally known as Batty Green, wasn't it?

Source of the River Ribble is generally acknowledged as being up on Gayle Moor, maybe a mile or three away from Ribblehead.

 

[Pinus contorta]

Originally known as Batty Green, wasn't it?

Source of the River Ribble is generally acknowledged as being up on Gayle Moor, maybe a mile or three away from Ribblehead.

Yea it's batty moss .

 

[Dr_Paul]

Surbiton? Originally known as Kingston upon Railway. The area didn't really exist as a built up area before the railway and was known as Seething Wells if anything (the Seething Wells names continues as the area around the Victorian water works - which are now sadly neglected).

There was a settlement called Surbiton, it's shown on an 1819 1" OS map reproduced in the London Village Atlas. It is around today's Surbiton Road, that is, a little way south of Kingston and a good half-mile north of what we now know as Surbiton, around the station. The map doesn't give a name for the area where the station was built.

Loughborough Junction has emerged as a distinct area since the station was built; I believe that Loughborough Park was an area around there, but that's just a street name these days.

The opposite has occurred with Walham Green. This was the area around Fulham Broadway station, and was the station's original name. Walham Green as a popular area name has completely disappeared, and this area is what most people today know as Fulham, although the original settlement of Fulham, including the High Street, is close to Putney Bridge station.

 

[RyanOPlasty]

Whitley Bay was indirectly named as a result of the railway. There had been confusion between Whitley and Whitby (Both on the NER, but 50 miles apart as the crow flies and many more by rail)
In 1901 after a body was mistakenly delivered to Whitby instead of Whitley, it was decided to rename both the town and the station to Whitley Bay.

 

[TPO]

Woking developed similarly. The original village had grown up around St Peter's church about a mile and a half south-east of the new LSWR station. Initially the new settlement on the north side of the station was called "Woking Station" on OS maps, and there was open countryside between it and Woking village as-was. In time that intervening area was built up, the new town based around the station became Woking, and the original village centre became Old Woking.

Similar situation at Swindon.

TPO