THE LYNN AVOIDING LINE

The Lynn Ely Railway opened in 1846, and in August 1861, the Lynn Sutton Bridge Railway was authorised by parliament and opened in 1864 and is shown on historical maps as the Bourne and Lynn Railway. The Lynn Sutton bridge railway started its services from the original wooden station in King’s Lynn, which was later replaced by a brick station built by Robert Skipper of Dereham in 1871, which still exists today.

Departing from King's Lynn, the Sutton Bridge railway line utilised the Lynn Ely line and proceeded to the southern edge of the town at Harbour Junction. From there, the line diverted towards Sutton Bridge, with the next station being West Lynn. However, the single-platform station at West Lynn was short-lived, and little historical information is available about this old station. I found that it was estimated to have been open from 1866 to 1886.

The line after West Lynn called at Clenchwarton, Terrington, and Walpole before arriving at Sutton Bridge.

On the northern side of King’s Lynn, the King’s Lynn to Hunstanton railway line opened in 1862, and the Lynn Fakenham Railway opened in 1879 between King’s Lynn and Great Massingham. This is shown on historic maps as the Eastern & Midlands railway. The Lynn Fakenham line originally ran from a junction that branched off the Lynn Hunstanton Railway at Gaywood, between King’s Lynn and North Wootton. The line was extended to Fakenham in 1880, expanding further to Melton Constable, Great Yarmouth, Cromer, and Norwich City station and in later days, all these became part of the M&GN.

The Lynn Fakenham railway called at Grimston Road, Hillington, East Rudham, West Raynham & Fakenham.

King’s Lynn was becoming very busy with the Lynn Ely Line (1846), the Lynn Dereham Line(1846), the Hunstanton Branch (1862), and the Wisbech-March branch (1848) that branched off the Lynn Ely Line at a junction at Magdalen Road (now Watlington). Freight traffic was also present at King’s Lynn with the docks branch that opened in 1870 and headed towards the docks at King’s Lynn Junction, this junction was also where the Lynn Hunstanton, Dereham, and Ely-Sutton bridge lines diverged onto their dedicated lines.

An initial plan proposed constructing a new station on Austin Street in King’s Lynn. The envisioned railway line would have diverged from the Hunstanton line at a point known as Salters Road Junction, located near the junction for the Lynn-Bawsey-Fakenham line. The line would have briefly utilised the Docks railway before continuing its dedicated route to Austin Street. However, this line was never completed, no traffic was observed, and it was ultimately abandoned and dismantled.

A new through route was required to link the Lynn Sutton Bridge line to the Lynn Fakenham line and divert traffic from the main King’s Lynn Town station and King’s Lynn Junction. In 1885, the Lynn avoiding line was opened for freight, followed by passenger services in 1886. That same year, South Lynn Station was also opened for passenger use, coinciding with the closure of West Lynn Station.

The new loop line ran from Bawsey and circled around King’s Lynn to the south side of the town, leading to the newly established South Lynn Station.

The Lynn Avoiding Line was the final connection that linked the eastern lines, which reached Norwich in 1882 and Cromer in 1887, directly to the lines west of King’s Lynn

Along this new line, a station named Gayton Road was also constructed and opened in 1887. Also, a new bridge was erected to allow the line to cross over the Lynn-Dereham line between King’s Lynn and Middleton Towers.

The 3-mile and 22-chain route between Gaywood and Bawsey was kept intact for potential diversionary and excursion traffic, but it was ultimately removed as it was never utilised. Part of the old Sutton Bridge line at South Lynn continued to serve as a junction for shuttling trains from South Lynn Station to King’s Lynn Town Station. This included many excursion trains to the Norfolk coast via the Hunstanton branch until the M&GN closed in 1959. The junction remained operational for freight use until the late 1980s or early 1990s, serving the southern side of King’s Lynn and the nearby beet factory.

Starting from Bawsey, the Lynn Loop crossed a small bridge over the Gaywood River, then passed through open countryside, before arriving at Gayton Road station, Gayton Road, a two-platformed station with a waiting room and station master’s house and its dedicated signal box. The line then continued through Bawsey, passing beneath two bridges, and the railway soon after entered a cutting passing under a small farm crossing. The railway continued, passing over the Lynn to Dereham railway. Once past this bridge, the Lynn avoiding line railway passed over a few small drain crossings. Then, the train heading towards South Lynn crossed over another small drain bridge, the Puny drain. At this point, the railway was on a raised track bed, crossing over a farm track and then the Lynn Ely railway.

Shortly thereafter, it would pass over another bridge that spanned the River Nar. After this final bridge, the railway would cross a junction that once connected the Lynn Sutton Bridge railway from the Lynn Ely line at Harbour Junction. Soon after, the railway would head into South Lynn station.

Marking the end of the Lynn avoiding line

The Line today.

Starting at Bawsey, I visited the site where the Lynn avoiding line started in 2025; most of the rest of the line has been photographed in various stages since 2020.

I found no signs of what was once a junction at Bawsey on the ground. However, parts of the track bed from the old Fakenham line were used as a farm track, and the old track bed from the Lynn avoiding line was walkable up to the old Gaywood River bridge, which remains in small parts but is impassable. Leaving the Gaywood River bridge, the avoiding line track bed is now untraceable as it passes through a farm and a scrap metal yard, having changed dramatically over the years. All that can be seen of where the line once ran is where the waste yard now stores skips and parts of a cutting to the side, close to the Gayton road site.

When we arrived at Gayton Road, the bridge that once crossed the road just before the station was now completely gone, and the road levelled. Gayton Road Station itself remains in small proportions, with the buildings gone, apart from a small brick part of the waiting room, and the two platforms remain but look to have been shortened. The land surrounding Gayton is very boggy in the winter and very overgrown in the Summer. Leaving Gayton Road, the railway passed underneath a road bridge that remains in Bawsey Country Park and then passed under a smaller farm crossing bridge that also remains. Before entering a cutting and passing underneath a small farm bridge, all that remains here is one small concrete part of the bridge, and the cutting has been refilled and returned to farming fields. Shortly after, the Lynn Dereham bridge crossing still survives in small parts, but the buttresses remain, with the bridge crossing having been removed. The Lynn Dereham railway below is still used daily, transporting freight services from Middleton Towers station, transporting sand. Passing the bridge, the old track bed still remains and is now repurposed as a farm track, with two small drain crossing bridges remaining. Passing underneath the A47 and bearing around the Hardwick Narrows industrial estate, an old bridge hidden within the industrial estate is said to survive still, but is challenging to get to. The line would pass over the Lynn Ely line; all that remains is one buttress from the railway crossing, which was part of the farm underpass that ran alongside the Lynn Ely line. The raised track bed still exists, as does Bridge PmY2-53, which is accessible via the Nar Valley walk. The bridge that once accommodated the Lynn Sutton Bridge railway and later the Lynn Shuttle services heading towards South Lynn also survives.

This is the last part where anything remains from the Lynn avoiding line. A new bridge was constructed to take road traffic over what was once the Lynn avoiding line, and in later days, the sugar beet freight line can be viewed from Saddlebow Road. The track bed is also visible, and the site of what was once South Lynn station is in the distance.

South Lynn station no longer exists, and the site is now wasteland in most parts, with industrial sites and the A47 bypass constructed.

Much of the track bed from South Lynn to Sutton Bridge is now repurposed as the A17 bypass, and all the intermediate stations are no longer there. All that remains is the Cross Keys swing bridge or Sutton Bridge, which is still in use and carries the A17 road traffic. There is also a small memorial at Walpole.