Richboro Port railway station

In 1911, the East Kent Light Railway obtained a Light Railways Order authorising the construction of a number of lines, among which was "Railway No. 1" from Shepherdswell to Stonar on the River Stour.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003a|pp=31, 37}}{{sfnp|White|1987|p=37}} Covering a total distance of {{convert|10|mi|2|furlong|km|abbr=off}}, Railway No. 1 was intended to provide the collieries being sunk at Guilford and Tilmanstone with the means to bring in construction materials and to allow coal to be shipped out once mining started.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003a|pp=31–32}} A subsequent Railways Order in 1920 authorised "Railway No. 28", a {{convert|2.2|furlong|m|abbr=off}} spur from Stonar to Lord Greville's Wharf.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003a|pp=69, 107}}

To complete the line, bridges would have to be constructed over the River Stour and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway's Deal to Minster line. An easement for a bridge over the SECR's line was agreed in November 1913{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003a|p=80}} and formal consent was given by its successor, the Southern Railway, in 1924.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003a|p=123}} Progress on the construction of Railway No. 1 beyond {{rws|Eastry}} was however slow due to the East Kent's financial difficulties and the military importance of Stonar during the First World War.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003a|pp=96–97}} Preparatory work on the construction of the bridges across the Southern and the Stour began in 1923 and 1924;{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003a|p=123}} although the completion date of the bridge is unknown, it was built as a fixed bridge without the opening span that had been stipulated in the original authorisation.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003a|p=155}}{{sfnp|Mitchell|Smith|1989|loc=fig. 91}}{{sfnp|Course|1976|p=88}} The Board of Trade subsequently gave its approval for the bridge.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003a|p=155}} The first record of traffic through to Lord Greville's Wharf occurred in April 1929.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003a|pp=157–158}}{{sfnp|Mitchell|Smith|1989|loc=fig. 95}}

Although a passenger platform was erected at Lord Greville's Wharf (also known as Richborough Port), no passenger trains ever called there nor were authorised to do so.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003b|p=315}}{{sfnp|Mitchell|Smith|1989|loc=fig. 92}}{{sfnp|White|1987|p=39}} The East Kent may have only considered seeking authorisation if the Port had developed,{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003a|p=158}} which would have justified the improvements which would undoubtedly have been required by the Ministry to Transport to be made to the Stour bridge.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003b|p=315}} An intermittent passenger service between Eastry and {{rws|Sandwich Road}} had been introduced between 1925 and 1 November 1928, the intention having been to extend the service through to the new platform at Richboro Port if this was seen as having traffic potential.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003a|pp=157–158}}{{sfnp|Course|1976|p=87}}{{sfnp|White|1987|p=39}} In the event, as only piecemeal development took place at the Port, the East Kent had no real incentive to encourage a passenger service on the branch.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003b|p=315}} The short platform was built of cinders with a wooden sleeper face and a white-painted wooden platform edging.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003b|p=332}} Passenger facilities consisted of a plank seat, nameboard, two lamp posts and a fence running along the back which was made of wooden posts and, allegedly, old locomotive tubes.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003b|p=332}}{{sfnp|Course|1976|p=104}} The station's nameboard indicated that it was called Richboro Port;{{sfnp|Mitchell|Smith|1989|loc=fig. 92}}{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003b|p=331}}{{sfnp|Course|1976|p=104}} no tickets are believed to have been printed for it.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003b|p=329}} The station was in a desolate and windswept location and had the distinction of being the only East Kent station not to be situated on Railways No. 1 and No. 2.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003b|p=329}} Certain sources give the intended opening date of the station as {{circa|1925}}{{sfnp|Croughton|Kidner|Young|1982|p=148}} but this could be a reference to the date of erection of the platform.{{sfnp|Quick|2009|p=330}}

The East Kent's Richborough branch was lifted in 1952,{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003b|p=243}} although the tracks over the Stour bridge are known to have been severed at an unknown date during the Second World War.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003b|p=316}} Orders were issued for the bridge's demolition but this was not carried out.{{sfnp|Lawson Finch|Garrett|2003b|p=316}} It had gone by 1987.{{sfnp|White|1987|p=156}}

{{Disused Rail Start}}

{{rail line|previous={{rws|Sandwich Road}}
Line never opened to passenger traffic |next=|route=East Kent Light Railway |col={{temporary rail colour|FECB09}} }}

{{s-end}}

No traces of the station remain.{{subbrit|r/richborough_port}} The station site is now comprised in the car park of Pfizer Global Research and Development on the west side of the A256 Ramsgate Road.

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{{Refbegin}}

• {{Cite book|last=Course|first=Edwin|title=The Railways of Southern England: Independent and Light Railways|year=1976|publisher=B.T. Batsford|location=London|isbn=0-7134-0490-6}}
• {{cite book |last1=Croughton |first1=Godfrey |last2=Kidner |first2=R.W. |last3=Young |first3=Alan |title=Private and Untimetabled Railway Stations |year=1982 |publisher=Oakwood Press |location=Salisbury |isbn=0-85361-281-1 }}
• {{cite book|last1=Lawson Finch|first1=M.|last2=Garrett|first2=S.R.|year=2003a|title=The East Kent Railway: The History of the Independent Railway|volume=1|publisher=The Oakwood Press|location=Usk|isbn=0-853616-08-6}}
• {{cite book|last1=Lawson Finch|first1=M.|last2=Garrett|first2=S.R.|year=2003b|title=The East Kent Railway: Nationalisation, the Route, Rolling Stock and Operation|volume=2|publisher=The Oakwood Press|location=Usk|isbn=0-853616-09-4}}
• {{cite book|last1=Mitchell|first1=Vic|last2=Smith|first2=Keith|date=June 1989|title=The East Kent Light Railway|series=Country Railway Routes|publisher=Middleton Press|location=Midhurst, Sussex|isbn=0-906520-61-4}}
• {{Quick-Stations}}
• {{Cite book|last=White|first= H.P.|title=Forgotten Railways: South-East England|series=Forgotten Railways Series|year=1987|orig-year=1976|publisher=David & Charles|location=Newton Abbot, Devon|isbn=978-0-946537-37-2}}

{{Refend}}

{{Closed stations Kent}}

Category:Disused railway stations in Kent

Category:Former East Kent Light Railway stations

Category:Unbuilt railway stations in the United Kingdom