Reedham station

Image: © Marathon Taken: 18 Jul 2012

A branch line along the Chipstead Valley from the Brighton Main Line was first projected in 1884. This scheme failed to take off. The line from Purley East Junction to Kingswood & Burgh Heath was eventually opened on 2nd November 1897 as a single track and this was doubled during 1899. The line finally reached Tattenham Corner on 4th June 1901 - Derby Day. Reedham station opened as Reedham Halt on 1st March 1911. The station took its name from the nearby Reedham Home for Fatherless Children, opened in 1844. This in turn took its name from its founder, philanthropist the Rev. Andrew Reed - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Reed_(clergyman) The purpose of Reedham Halt was to enable Chipstead Valley passengers to reach the orphanage and the new housing being built along the nearby main road. The Home was renamed Reedham Orphanage in 1904 and Reedham School in 1950. It closed in 1979, but the trust which ran it still occupies the original lodge (gatehouse) of the estate, just east of the station on the corner of Old Lodge Lane and Reedham Drive. The halt was renamed as a station on 5th July 1936. Reedham station is very close to the main Brighton line as can be seen here - the train in the distance is on the main line. In fact the line between Reedham and Coulsdon Town station, the next one to the south, runs alongside the main line almost the whole way.

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