2.4.1917

2.4.1917 (Private sidings transferred to supervision by Shawforth station in 1933)

Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway

Demolished. Site in cutting has been infilled

Notes: There have been two Britannia stations in England: one, a halt on the Kingswear branch in Devon, and the other in Lancashire.

Britannia (Lancashire) is a short distance north-west of the summit of the Rochdale to Bacup railway where it reached 967ft, the highest elevation on the Lancashire & Yorkshire system as it crossed the watershed between the Spodden and Irwell valleys. Britannia station was just 5ft lower than the summit. The lineside scenery of rough pasture and moorland at Britainnia is in contrast to the constricted valley setting of most other stations on the two branches to Bacup.

The station served a straggling village on the Rochdale-Bacup road, taking its name from an inn. Lancashire seems to have specialised in stations named after hostelries, with Nelson, Waterloo, Cherry Tree, Clock Face, White Bear, Boar’s Head, Old Roan, Old Swan, and Bay Horse sharing this etymology. Britannia’s origins and economy were based on the huge quarries on the nearby moors.

The road accompanying the railway line from Britannia to Bacup road has the unusual name ‘New Line’. This name, still in use today, commemorates the opening of the ‘new’ Facit-Bacup railway in 1881.

Unlike the neighbouring double-track roadside stations at Facit and Shawforth, Britannia was given an island platform in a cutting; Wray (2004) remarks that it was ‘quite elaborate for a station in a relatively remote location’. The booking hall was on the east side of an over-line bridge, and a stone staircase led down to the flagstone platform which was sheltered by a verandah for over half of its length.  Details of the platform buildings have not been, but Marshall (1970) notes that the platform buildings at Britannia station were similar to those at Bacup. Since the glazed roofing provided at the neighbouring 1881 Bacup and Shawforth stations and on Facit’s down platform building was of a ridge-and-furrow design, it would follow that Britannia, being contemporary with them, would have had the same style.

No photographs are known to exist of the station when open.

The steep gradients on the railway either side of Britannia station ruled out its use by goods trains except in isolated instances, Bacup’s goods trains reaching the town via the Irwell Valley route. It is no surprise, therefore, that Britannia had no goods facilities. On the other hand, stone traffic from the extensive Britannia Quarries was of considerable importance and it had a downhill journey from the summit of the line. A long loop extended on the up side from the east end of the platform to a short distance beyond the west end. A connection from this loop crossed both of the running lines and then ascended a steep incline to exchange sidings (‘Britannia Stone Siding’) at the top of the cutting. From these sidings a standard gauge line crossed the moor in a long curve to serve the Britannia Quarries. These sandstone quarries opened circa 1885. They were owned, as was Britannia Stone Siding, by Messrs Brooks & Brooks, later Butterworth & Brooks.

Britannia signal box was on the up (north) side, opposite the connection to the stone sidings at the west end of the station. A Gloucester Wagon Co structure, it was constructed with the line in 1881 and was fitted with a 19-lever frame.

In its early years, Britannia officially possessed an engine shed. Until 1892 the signal box close to the shed just south-east of Bacup was Britannia Engine Shed (and the nearby tunnel was known as Britannia – or New Line – Tunnel), but in that year the cabin, more properly, became ‘Bacup Engine Shed’.

Between Britannia and Bacup the Facit Branch had one of the steepest gradients on the British ‘main line’ network, most of it at 1 in 34 / 1 in 35, interrupted by a less severe 1 in 70 through the short Britannia, or New Line, Tunnel. The descent began just south-east of Britannia station which was on a shallow gradient of 1 in 260 (or 193 according to the gradient post), steepening to 1 in 61 just beyond the platform.

This heroically named station was one of those considered unimportant enough to close as a ‘wartime economy’ in 1917 to release railway staff for war service. Since 1911 the electric tramway route between Rochdale and Bacup had passed close by the station and offered more convenient and frequent services to both towns; at both Bacup and Rochdale the stations were poorly placed to serve the town centres. Bradshaw of July 1922 still included Britannia in the Facit Branch timetable, but with no trains calling. A petition to reopen the station was received by the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (successor to the LYR) in 1926 from the Deansgreave Manufacturing Co Ltd at Britannia Mill, along with the Britannia Mill Co and Messrs Heys & Co, but the decision was made not to reopen it. After the station’s closure was confirmed by the LMS the buildings on the platform and the booking hall adjacent to the road bridge were removed, but until the early 1960s the derelict platform survived, latterly with its edge stones on the northern face removed and with the partially dismantled staircase in place.

In 1939 plans were made to remodel the layout at Britannia. The reason is not clear, but Littleworth (2014) suggests that it might have been because the curvature of the track past the old platform caused loading gauge or operational difficulties – with support from the 1937 Sectional Appendix where a speed restriction of 25mph ‘over the curve at Britannia’ is indicated. Consequently on three consecutive Sundays, 17, 24 and 31 August 1941 the remodelling took place, whereby the down line was demoted to a loop siding, the up platform line became the down line and the up loop became the up line. It was perhaps at this time that the edge stones on the north face of the derelict platform were removed as a safety measure, allowing more clearance and avoiding the risk of them slipping from the platform onto the track as the structure deteriorated.

Britannia Stone Siding closed in 1944 and the former down line, already demoted to a siding, is thought to have been abandoned after this time, though it was not lifted until the 1960s.

After the Rochdale–Bacup passenger train service was suspended in 1947 and abandoned in 1949 traffic through Britannia was limited to light engine workings to and from Bacup loco shed, and the railway between Facit and Bacup shed was closed entirely on 5 May 1952. The signal box closed sometime between January and June 1949. The rails through Britannia were left in place in case they were needed for wagon storage. Fortunately for posterity, Ian G Holt took a series of photographs at Britannia on 17 August 1961 which he has kindly allowed to be included. His pictures reveal that the station platform and signal box were still in place and that both ‘main line’ tracks and the loop line were in situ. The signal box was demolished in 1962/63. The wagon storage status of the Facit-Bacup line ended on 12 August 1963 and the rails were removed by the end of 1964. When the prolific photographer of stations, John Mann, visited in late 1971 the platform was still substantially intact. However, today nothing can be seen today of Britannia station as its site and the cutting towards the summit have been filled in and landscaped, and a  recreational path follows the line of the old railway. Since the line closed the tunnel between Britannia and Bacup been sealed off, but it was used at one time for storing fencing materials.

Click here for a brief history and bibliography of the Bacup to Rochdale line.

To see other stations on the Bacup - Rochdale line click on
the station name:
Bacup, Shawforth, Facit, Whitworth, Broadley, Shawclough & Healey, Wardleworth & Rochdale 1st Station

See also special feature: Facit branch viaducts and the Siamese bridges