Westcliff (on sea) station.

[Sunbird24]

Is anyone able to give any history on this station, such as when it was built and what names it has had over the ages. Westcliff itself did not exist on a 1904 ordnance survey map but the station was there, near Hamlet House but not much else. Did it start out as a halt for the Hamlet House residence as part of a deal for crossing the landowners property, a common occurrence back then? When was that part of Southend named Westcliff and when did it become Westcliff on Sea. These thoughts arose because a lot of my ancestors lived in the area and several worked on the railways.

 

[kaiser62]

Take a look at this link... it will give you a little bit of background
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westcliff_railway_station
There are a number of books on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway which I think you can get on Amazon which will give you far more detail.

 

[pdeaves]

According to Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain (Michael Quick):
Opened 1 July 1895; 'on sea' removed 20 February 1969.

 

[kentuckytony]

As mentioned above by kaiser62, the book The London, Tilbury & Southend Railway Volume 3 ©2010 by Peter Kay on page 220 has a full page on Westcliff-on-Sea.
May be available at libraries or bookshops. I bought mine at Amazon UK.
I hope you find what you are looking for.

 

[Sunbird24]

I have queried the accuracy of this information due to the name Westcliff on sea not appearing until the early 20th century. From an 1880 Ordnance survey map, surveyed in 1873 the terminus at Southend was in an area known as Clifftown. Westcliff station location (built 1895) was south of Hamlet House on this copy of said map: https://maps.nls.uk/view/102342026# As you can see, at that time there were no buildings in the area to suggest the need for a station at such a location (except perhaps a landowners halt), and there is no mention on the map of Westcliff at all. There was supposed to be an 1893 map but I have yet to locate a copy. Zooming in on the map you can see the actual track layout of the terminus in 1873. Clearly there must have been a huge building boom in the 1880s to justify not only another station at Westcliff but also the GER branch from Shenfield to Southend, opened 1888-9, with an additional station at Prittlewell, where some of my ancestors lived. Unfortunately the libraries where I live do not contain many English books and none about railways and although I have a large collection on GER books I have next to nothing on the LTSR.
1895 map but nothing west of Clifftown: https://maps.nls.uk/view/101456087
1895 map showing Leigh to Clifftown: http://www.oldmapsonline.org/map/nls/101456084 town shown simply as Westcliff and station as Westcliff also (no mention of 'on sea'). Any photos of the opening day showing a legible nameboard? Clearly Southend has expanded and been renamed Southend on Sea and the new Westcliff station is at the western extremity but perhaps further expansion is envisaged or the railway is enticing Londoners to visit previously less accessible beaches!
Here is another map from a survey in 1920-23: https://maps.nls.uk/view/101457413 another good layout diagram for Southend station.
Related to this my father apparently worked on the railways for a short time in 1920s or 30s, involved with overnight Fish trains from Southampton to London, so my sister told me yesterday! More on that later. Was there ever a rail link to Billingsgate Fish Market?

 

[Fawkes Cat]

It may be that the community was built round the station and so Westcliff-on-Sea (the place) is named after Westcliff-on-Sea (the station).

 

[pdeaves]

It may be that the community was built round the station and so Westcliff-on-Sea (the place) is named after Westcliff-on-Sea (the station).

Possibly in a similar vein to Metroland: build the railway/station, then build the estates around it. There are places where the railway took the risk, then development never happened (can't think of any off hand except Ebbsfleet, which may be considered a different case).

 

[Sunbird24]

This certainly appears to be the case, I have just found this council document http://www.southend.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/1854/the_leas_conservation_area_appraisal which states that '...area consists mainly of terraced and semi-detached villas built between 1895 and 1910.' So the station was opened at the start of the 15-year building campaign. Clearly a good move on the part of the LT&SR.