Cressing Station

Written by slc-admin on Monday, 4th May 2020. Posted in

Anyone visiting from the 19th Century would not recognise Cressing Station. The station still looks like it belongs to a by-gone era and there’s quite a bit of history to prove it.

The Maldon, Witham & Braintree Railway (MWBR) was authorised in 1846 but prior to its opening the company was absorbed by the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) that opened the line for goods traffic on 15 August 1848, and for passenger services on 2 October 1848; it was double-tracked throughout until the Crimean War (1853-1856).

The station, originally named Bulford, was opened on 2 October 1848 and was renamed Cressing early in 1911. It is thought that the large crossing gates were installed because Cressing had a passing loop until after World War I, and then retained the loop for freight purposes until goods traffic ceased on the line in 1964.

Cressing signal box in 1976, before electrification of services

The station was owned by the Great Eastern Railway (GER) from 1862 to 1923, but as the building does not show typical GER architectural canopy support features, it is likely that it pre-dates the GER. Although there does not appear to be any obvious evidence (as in the case of Maldon East & Heybridge which displays “MWB” on the gulleys at the top of its downpipes) that it was built when the line first opened, that is a possibility and if so would make it the only surviving MWBR structure on this railway.

There was originally a signal box on the platform, next to the level crossing. This was removed and relocated to the preserved Colne Valley Railway at Castle Hedingham in the 1970s.

The typical off-peak service is of one train per hour to Braintree and one to Witham, where many Monday-Saturday services continue onto the Great Eastern Main Line to London Liverpool Street. On Sundays services terminate at Witham and passengers travelling on towards London must change for a connecting main line train.

Many travellers will remember with fondness the old diesel branch line that operated between Witham and Braintree prior to electrification of the line, when it wasn’t unusual for the driver to stop the train due to a cow or a group of pheasants (called a bouquet) on the line! It may have been a strange excuse for being late home from work, but it was better than leaves on the line or the wrong type of snow.

Bulford Lane
Tye Green
Essex
CM77 8NT