Disused Stations: Dover Harbour Station

Dover Harbour station seen from Elizabeth Street in 1925. The level crossing was closed when a new viaduct over the Hawkesbury Street curve was opened in 1923. It was built to provide easier access to the Western Docks, bypassing the level crossing. Elizabeth Street was once an important thoroughfare from Limekiln Street to Hawkesbury Street in the Pier District. The street on the south side of the railway has now been lost.
Copyright photo from John Alsop collection

A poor quality view of Dover Harbour station from the Western Heights in 1935. The trainshed and the platforms have been demolished but the station building remains largely unaltered. At this time it was used as a bonded warehouse by the Southern Railway shipping department. The two sidings beside the station are clearly still in use. The new viaduct which bypassed the Elizabeth Street level crossing is seen to the right.

Dover Harbour station from the air in 1948; the viaduct which bypassed Elizabeth Street is seen to the north of the station. Granville Dock is seen in the foreground. Most of the buildings surrounding the Granville Dock were due for demolition, and new cargo warehouses would be erected within 10 years. To the right of the picture, in the gap between the last two buildings, the line to the Prince of Wales Pier can be made out. This is where the movable section of the down platform was located. Two Trinity House cruising pilot vessels are tied up at the Granville Dock. These were stationed at the Dungeness Pilot Station, which is where ships heading for the Port of London pick up their pilots. A Thames sailing barge is moored alongside one of the vessels. A salvage vessel is seen behind the building in the foreground. This type of vessel was a common sight in Dover at this time with so much underwater wreckage to clear up after the war and salvage work on and around the Goodwin Sands, six miles off the coast at Deal.

Reproduced with the kind permission of Simmons Aerofilms Ltd

Looking north at Dover Harbour station in September 1973 from the bottom of the footbridge between Elizabeth Street and Clarence Place. The wall that once supported the west side of the trainshed is clearly visible. The clock tower was truncated shortly after closure of the station and now has a navigation light on top
Photo by John Mann

Looking north at Dover Harbour station in September 1973. The track has been realigned since closure of the station. The Hawkesbury Street Junction signal box is seen on the right; this replaced the earlier box at the south end of the up platform seen in the 1925 picture, above. The south portal of the Harbour Tunnel is seen in the distance.

Photo by John Mann

Dover Harbour station looking north from The Viaduct in June 1989.
Photo by Nick Catford

Dover Harbour station seen from the Western Heights in May 1992. Elizabeth Street is being rebuilt. The Hawkesbury Street curve is seen to the right with the lines into Dover Western Docks on the left.
Photo by Nick Catford

Dover Harbour station frontage on Elizabeth Street in March 1995. The navigation light on the truncated clock tower has been removed. The tower was retained after closure only because it was an aid to navigation. By this date it was a listed building and safe from redevelopment.
Photo by Nick Catford

Four of Dover's closed stations are seen in this view from the Western Heights in February 2013. In the foreground Dover Harbour station is seen. The ‘Lord Warden’ Hotel is top left; Dover Town station was to the right of the hotel. Dover Western Docks station is seen behind the hotel with the Admiralty Pier to its right. The original platform was beneath the promenade along the west side of the pier.

Photo by Ian Hadingham from his Flickr photostream

Looking south at Dover Harbour station from Limekiln Street bridge in September 2014. With the closure of Dover Western Docks in 1994 all lines in the vicinity have been lifted apart from the main line to Folkestone running through the old station.
Photo by Nick Catford

Dover Harbour station frontage and clock tower seen from The Viaduct in September 2014.

Photo by Nick Catford

Dover Harbour station seen from the Western Heights in April 2014. The realigned track away from the station building is clearly visible in this view.
Photo by David Town

April 2015

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Station Name: DOVER HARBOUR