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Blake Hall tube station

Coordinates: 51°42′43″N 0°12′11″E / 51.7120213°N 0.2030285°E / 51.7120213; 0.2030285
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Blake Hall
Blake Hall station, taken in 1982 (a year after the closure)
Blake Hall is located in Essex
Blake Hall
Blake Hall
Location of Blake Hall in Essex
LocationGreensted
Local authorityEpping Forest
OwnerGreat Eastern Railway
Number of platforms1
Key dates
24 April 1865 (1865-04-24)Opened
2 November 1981 (1981-11-02)Closed
Replaced byNone
Other information
Coordinates51°42′43″N 0°12′11″E / 51.7120213°N 0.2030285°E / 51.7120213; 0.2030285
London transport portal

Blake Hall is a disused former station on the London Underground in the civil parish of Stanford Rivers, and south from the village of Bobbingworth in Essex. It was latterly on the Central line, between North Weald and Ongar, but was originally served by the Epping to Ongar shuttle service branch line.[1][2]

It was opened in 1865 and named after Blake Hall, a country house located a mile or so to the northeast and inhabited by the Capel-Cure family of substantial local land-owners. The station was closed in 1981.

History

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Blake Hall station, 1923
View westward, towards Epping in 1961

Blake Hall station was opened by the Great Eastern Railway on 24 April 1865,[3] serving principally as a goods yard carrying agricultural produce from the nearby farms into London.[4] Steam locomotives operated by British Railways for the Underground ran a shuttle service from Epping to Ongar, stopping at Blake Hall, from 1949 until 1957, when the line was electrified and taken over by the Underground's Central line.[5] On 18 April 1966 the goods yard was closed and Blake Hall became a dedicated passenger station. On 17 October 1966, Sunday services were withdrawn.[6]

Blake Hall became reputed as the least-used station on the entire Underground network [citation needed]. Fare subsidies provided on the rest of the system were not provided on this part of the line because local government agencies for Essex and London failed to agree on their respective public transport responsibilities, and Blake Hall station was located a considerable distance from any substantial settlement. By the time the last train ran on 31 October 1981,[7] the station was reported to have only 17 passengers per day. It was permanently closed on 2 November 1981.[8] The Epping to Ongar branch line was closed 13 years later, on 30 September 1994.[9]

Blake Hall's station building has since been converted into a private home[2] and the line passing the station site is now privately owned and operated as a heritage railway by the Epping Ongar Railway. The platform was demolished after closure and reinstated in May 2012 but this is for aesthetic purposes only, and the station remains closed.[10] Additionally, the rebuilt platforms are much shorter in length than they originally were.[11]

See also

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References

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Notes
  1. ^ "London's Abandoned Tube Stations - Epping to Ongar branch". Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  2. ^ a b Elvery, Martin (24 July 2021). "Abandoned Tube station that's now a stunning country house". MyLondon. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  3. ^ Brown 2006, p. 6
  4. ^ Croome & Jackson 1981, p. ?
  5. ^ Horne 1987, p. ?
  6. ^ Hardy 2011, pp. 175–183
  7. ^ "Photo collection of Blake Hall station in 1981". Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  8. ^ Menear 1983, p. ?
  9. ^ Day & Reed 2005, p. 202
  10. ^ Skinner, Paul (2011). "Epping Ongar Railway". Retrieved 22 May 2011.
  11. ^ "Blake Hall Central Line Station and Greensted Church". 20 May 2018.
Bibliography
  • Brown, Joe (November 2006). London Railway Atlas. Hersham, UK: Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7110-3137-1. 0611/3.
  • Bruce, J. Graeme; Croome, Desmond F. (2006) [1996]. The Central Line (2nd ed.). Harrow, London: Capital Transport. ISBN 1-85414-297-6.
  • Croome, Desmond F.; Jackson, A.A. (1981). Rails through the Clay. Harrow, UK: Capital Transport Publishing. ISBN 1-85414-151-1.
  • Day, John R.; Reed, John (2005) [1963]. The Story of London's Underground (9th ed.). Harrow, London: Capital Transport. ISBN 1-85414-289-5.
  • Hardy, Brian, ed. (March 2011). "How it used to be - freight on The Underground 50 years ago". Underground News (591). London Underground Railway Society. ISSN 0306-8617.
  • Horne, M.A.C. (1987). A Short History of the Central Line. London Transport/Douglas Rose & Nebulous Books. ISBN 0-85329-055-5.
  • Menear, L. (1983). London Underground Stations: a social and architectural study. Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK: Midas. ISBN 0-85936-124-1.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blake Hall tube station.
Historical railways
North Weald
Line and station open 		  Great Eastern Railway
Loughton-Ongar 		  Ongar
Line and station open
Preceding station London Underground Following station
North Weald
towards Epping
 Central line
Epping-Ongar branch
 Ongar
Terminus
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