THE LYNN SUTTON BRIDGE RAILWAY

Railway mania was starting in Norfolk. The Lynn Ely Railway opened in 1846 as part of the Lynn Dereham Railway, and in August 1861, the Lynn Sutton Bridge Railway was authorised by parliament and opened in 1864, along with lines from Wisbech and Bourne connecting at Sutton Bridge.

Historical maps show the railway as the Bourne and Lynn Railway and the Lines Connecting at Sutton Bridge to Bourne.

The Lynn Sutton Bridge Railway started its services from the original wooden station in King’s Lynn. This was later replaced by a brick station built by Robert Skipper of Dereham in 1871, which still exists today.

The government wanted the Lynn Sutton Bridge Company to construct a new rail and road bridge at Sutton Bridge. However, the Lynn and Sutton Bridge Railway Act of 1863 modified this, permitting the railway to purchase the existing crossing, built in 1850.

Departing from King's Lynn, the Sutton Bridge railway line first 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.

In 1886, the Lynn avoiding line opened along with South Lynn station, diverting traffic away from King's Lynn's heavily congested main station and now running to Sutton Bridge from South Lynn station.

The Cross Keys. The first bridge opened in 1831, and the replacement bridge opened in 1850. The second bridge was a swing bridge, similar to the one we see today. From 1850, the bridge was used for road traffic only, until 1864 when the railway also acquired the right to use it.

The present bridge, which still stands today, was constructed in 1897 for £80,000.

The newly built bridge changed the track alignment at the approach to the Sutton Bridge from the east slightly to accommodate the new bridge . It was originally hoped that the 1850 bridge could be kept for rail use, but it was considered a hazard, so it was demolished.

In the late 1890s, the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway was formed

(Nicknamed the Muddle & go Nowhere)

The M&GN took control of the Lynn Sutton Bridge line, as well as the Peterborough, Wisbech, and Bourne lines to the West, the Lynn Fakenham line, the Norwich city, Cromer, and Great Yarmouth lines, and the Melton Constable works and junction to the East.

In 1958, a report by British Railways concluded that the M&GNJR was making no money and was duplicated with Wisbech, Peterborough, Norwich, and King's Lynn all having other stations in their towns supported by different railway companies. In early 1959, most of the M&GN was closed down, with some small parts still open for freight use. The only parts of the M&GN still in use are Cromer station, formerly Cromer Beach station, and West Runton stations, with Sheringham and Weybourne still in use as part of the North Norfolk Railway.

Part of the closure was rumoured to be that the bridge that crossed the river ouse at South Lynn was beyond repair, and constructing a new railway bridge would have cost more than the railway was making.

South Lynn.

It opened on the 1st of January 1886 and closed to passengers on the 2nd of March 1959 and 1966 as a coal depot.

Sutton Bridge.

It opened on March 1, 1866, and closed to passengers on March 2, 1959; Sutton Bridge closed to freight on April 5, 1965.

The original station in King’s Lynn, from which the Sutton Bridge railway once started, is still used daily for services to London King’s Cross.

All intermediate stations along the route were also closed in 1959.

When I wrote this page, all that remained of the Lynn Sutton bridge railway was a bridge and some small parts of the railway track close to Harbour Junction. I'm unsure if the bridge was original or replaced over time. All stations along the route have been demolished, with only a small memorial at Walpole dedicated to the long-lost railway. The track bed was repurposed into the A17 bypass, which, in many parts, follows the old track bed. At Sutton Bridge, the Swing bridge called Cross Keys Bridge still exists and is in daily use, carrying A17 road traffic over the River Nene.

The river Nene leads into Wisbech Docks and serves Sutton Bridge Docks from the Wash.