About Bishopstone station
The History of Bishopstone Station
Passenger trains between Lewes and Newhaven began service in 1847, and 27 years later, a single-track line was extended to Seaford. This relatively late addition for a seaside town contributed to Seaford not developing tourism to the same extent as other coastal destinations like Bognor, Margate, or Worthing.
In 1904, the line between Newhaven and Seaford was doubled, a feature still evident in the brickwork of the rail bridge at Buckle.
By July 1935, the first through-train on the newly electrified line ran from London to Seaford, though steam trains continued to operate on the line until the early 1960s.
In 1936, the Guildhall Development Company proposed a large housing development in Bishopstone, with a new station and Grand Avenue at its center. The company paid Southern Railway to build a new station, located three-quarters of a mile east of the original Bishopstone Halt at Tide Mills. However, by the outbreak of World War II, only around 50 houses had been built, and post-war austerity hindered any further expansion. In the late 1960s, two smaller housing developments were built on Hawth Hill and Rookery Hill.
As a result, Bishopstone Station is a large suburban station situated in a small community on the outskirts of Seaford. It was built with extensive facilities for its size, including half a dozen restrooms, three waiting rooms, a WH Smith kiosk, two ticket windows, and a Parcel Office.
Bishopstone Station opened in autumn 1938 at a cost of £6,170. It was designed by James Robb Scott, the chief architect of Southern Railway, who also designed Surbiton and Goring-by-Sea stations in a similar style. The building’s architecture is a blend of late Art Deco and Modernism, characterized by its use of glass, brick, and concrete, along with a mix of flat and curved surfaces. A standout feature is the raised octagonal booking hall roof, top-lit by glass pavement lights supported by a concrete grid. The steel footbridge, originally fully glazed with Crittal windows, has a reinforced concrete roof built in situ, allowing passengers to stay dry while moving between the ticket hall and their trains.
In 1940, just two years after its opening, the flat roof of Bishopstone Station’s hall was modified to incorporate a well-camouflaged gun emplacement. The two gun turrets, connected by a concrete-lined low passageway accessible via an internal ladder, were designed for machine guns. These would have provided defensive cover over the Ouse estuary and Seaford Bay, with additional support from Newhaven Fort on the opposite side. The low-lying estuary and beach were considered high-risk areas for enemy invasion. Notably, Bishopstone is the only railway station in the UK equipped with gun turrets. More information about these features can be found at Pillbox Study Group.
On 3rd July 1940, tragedy struck when the 17:37 train from Seaford was machine-gunned by an enemy aircraft between Bishopstone and Tidemills. The driver, Charles Pattenden, was killed, and six bombs were dropped nearby, shattering the train’s windows and injuring several passengers. Mrs. Terrell from Newhaven recalled, “It happened so quickly. All the windows were smashed, and we had splinters of glass in our hair. My son, Ronald, who was just a baby, had a cut near one eye, and the back of my coat was marked as if it had been scorched.”
On 1st January 1942, the old Bishopstone Beach Halt at Tidemills was permanently closed. Decades later, in 1975, one of the tracks was removed, leaving a single line between Newhaven and Seaford, and reducing Bishopstone Station to just one platform.
The last station manager, Una Shearing, retired in the late 1980s, marking the end of an era. She was the final railway employee to work at the station and later returned as a VIP guest at the opening of the Old Parcel Rooms community hub in November 2022.
For many years, the station never operated at full capacity. Its east wing, which once housed the Ladies’ Waiting Room, a newspaper kiosk, and restrooms, stood empty for decades. In the early 1980s, a village shop opened in the west wing, repurposing the old ticket and parcels offices. This shop, known as Linda’s Stores, was run for much of its existence by Seaford’s former Mayor, Linda Walraven. The shop closed about a decade ago, and although another business briefly occupied the space, by 2018, the entire Grade II listed station building had been vacated, and its condition began to steadily deteriorate.
Below are articles featured in the local magazine Sussex Scene about the History of Bishopstone Station and the work being done by FOBS to bring about its restoration.
