Opened by the London, Chatham & Dover Railway in 1865, the branch line to Crystal Palace High Level station was built to serve the Crystal Palace itself and as direct competition to the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway’s own line to their own station (the current Low Level site).
Crystal Palace High Level station 1908, via Wikipedia
Both lines were heavily patronised in the Palace’s heyday, but the destruction of Paxton’s glass wonder saw a serious decline in traffic. The LC&DR’s line, ending as it did at the High Level station, suffered particularly badly. The line and its stations struggled on for a while, but the cost of permanently repairing war time bomb damage proved prohibitive and the branch line finally closed in 1954.
Crystal Palace High Level itself was demolished in the early sixties, and to the casual eye nothing remains to suggest the grand station that once sat below the Crystal Palace Parade. Traces of the line and the stations it served can still be found, however, if you know where to look. The line boasted two substantial tunnels – Paxton Tunnel (439 yards) and Crescent Wood Tunnel (400 yards) and both these tunnels are still extant. As is the local myth that one of them contains an entombed train…
Upper Sydenham station, today a private residence
Retaining wall on the approach to Crystal Palace High Level
The view from above Paxton Tunnel south portal, looking towards the station site
The Pedestrian Subway that linked the station with the Palace. The subway itself is still there (securely locked) and contains an ornate vaulted ceiling
Steps leading down from a secondary entrance to the station
Paxton Tunnel, South Portal
Paxton Tunnel, South Portal close up
Paxton, north portal (with portaloos)
A closer look at the north portal
Crescent Wood Tunnel, north portal.
Bunchley Gardens to Nunhead. Courtesy BJG
The cutting between Lordship Lane and Upper Sydenham. Courtesy BJG
Cox’s Walk bridge over the cutting. Courtesy BJG
The Not Stopping Here series highlights disused or unusual transport-related engineering and architecture in London that is still visible to the public, if you know where to look. Suggestions for items to feature are welcome and can be sent to [email protected].
I have been recently discovered the old high level line which I didn’t know existed, despite living not too far away for years. It’s a shame the redevelopment of the Crsytal Palace has fallen through (for now at least) the high level station would have served a new palace well. If they ever build a new palace maybe they could reopen the line with a few changes? The low level station has had a lot of money spent on it and they have restored and reopened the old booking hall.
@NTW
The line has been built on both at the Nunhead end
http://images2.gnomen-europe.com/a1e06f7e4ab2ec986eb35c59cac13111/large/645.jpg
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4562923,-0.0463455,3a,75y,180h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZD4IjzRoYmxQ3MAu-FeldQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1
and on the site of the old station https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4230709,-0.0773812,3a,75y,165.5h,80.08t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1syHwn92YOsS-nYwnGsthrPA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1
Hi timbeau
Yes I know and also the Upper Sydenham and Lordship Lane sites, well part of them anyway. It is a few residential properties and I think a very small medical centres on part of the old high level site.
What I mean is that if ever the Chinese investment group spent £1 billion on the palace and park then relocating or rehousing a few small properties wouldn’t be insurmountable. Especially as the investor has said he wanted everything as it was originally in design.
I know it wouldn’t be straight forward but money can talk if the will is there.
A lot of the line has just reverted to nature.
Anyway the palace project now looks unlikely to happen though.
@NTW:
Thing is, the Crystal Palace’s popularity faded rapidly not long after it opened. (Ironically, the branch line saw some of its highest numbers when the Crystal Palace burned down!) The branch line itself ran through what was then – and still is today – mostly low-density housing and was never well used. There have been a handful of blocks of flats built since the line closed, but nowhere near enough to justify reopening the line in its original form.
Trams might be viable, but that would mean using a different route anyway as the two disused tunnels wouldn’t be much use.
@Amomnibus:
I was really thinking only if a new palace opened so the line, rather than relying on commuting use, I suppose like the Kensington Olympia branch line that only opens on exhibition days but then that would clearly be too expensive to reopen for what would be a limited use.
I am not sure what use a new palace could have to command regular high visitor numbers.
Museum? Exhibitions? events/ concerts? Or a mixture of all 3 plus more?
Maybe just not feasible at all.
Interesting speculation nonetheless!
Another difficulty with re-opening the CP High level Line is that if there were capacity for, say, another 2tph through Nunhead (to where? Victoria? Blackfriars?) it would be snapped up by the unmet demand for improved frequencies on the Catford loop.
If the branch still existed today, my guess is that it would be well used to the point where no one could seriously contemplate closure (ditto the Alexandra Palace branch).
But sadly that ship has long sailed. Even if a new palace ever gets built (growing up in the area, I’ve lost track of the number of proposed schemes that have come and gone!), the most you could ever hope for is that long mooted Tramlink extension from Birkbeck. Either way, don’t get your hopes up….
I think you are probably right, I too live fairly near (Bromley) and have seen proposals come and go. This one seemed more likely to succeed but now looks like going the way of the others.
@NTW:
With the Earls Court exhibition halls gone, there might well be a case for a new exhibition centre at the old Crystal Palace site, but exhibitions are, as you point out, fleeting events and couldn’t justify an entire branch line of that length. The old High Level branch was much longer than the Earls Court-Olympia shuttle.
I think this is why the promoters of the more recent schemes also included more conventional, year-round leisure facilities – bowling alleys, cinemas, etc. – and weren’t simply pushing for a duplication of the old Crystal Palace.
It should also be noted that, back when the old palace burned down, commuter trains were a lot shorter than they are today, and often less frequent too. You’d need to demonstrate a clear demand for a re-opened High Level branch in addition to the existing Low Level station, which is hardly a small two-platform affair!
I do think a tram project could work though. It would have a bigger catchment area, but the trick is to find somewhere to send it beyond Crystal Palace itself. Even then, it only really makes sense if the old site is substantially redeveloped. I can’t help noticing that the Tramlink extension tends to get a boost whenever a redevelopment is proposed, only to fall by the wayside again when Bromley Council tells the developers to go away and leave them alone.
Reopening the CPHL Line is not really comparable with Olympia. If that line were not already open, would anyone seriously consider (re-)opening it? It is actually quite remarkable that it has survived this long – I suspect the access the line provides to Lillie Bridge depot is its real raison d’etre.
It was built in the first place as part of the triangular junction between the original District Railway and the West London Extension Railway – the branch to Hammersmith came later.
I guess the CPLH would be another Bromley North branch….
Does anyone know if there has been any further development with the Zhong Rong plans for a new palace? They say on their website they are still hoping to go ahead but Bromley Council don’t seem to agree. Is it officially dead in the water? I heard the problem seemed to be over ownership of land.
@ NTW – I thought the issue at C Palace was that the Chinese had a defined deadline by which to demonstrate their plans and funding. They failed to do that so I believe all bets are off. A double check of the web confirms my thoughts – the deal fell through in early 2015. I suspect that the economic issues in China are not helping matters in respect of a whole series of investment proposals in London. That old phrase “you can’t buck the market” still applies even with the Chinese government desperately trying to control things. Chinese investors have become accustomed to never ending gains and recent losses will have caused very significant concerns (even if we don’t really get to hear about them). I wouldn’t be shocked to find some other developments don’t happen in London.
@Anomnibus….It not so much a case of Bromley Council telling developers to get lost…rather the local residents (one of their louder mouthpieces is here: http://www.cpca.org.uk) telling them to go shove their plans somewhere where the sun doesn’t shine!
People here have long memories here of the enormous, bitter, eco-warrior supported protests which took place over the proposed redevelopment of the site in 1999/2000, which at that time had the council’s full support….the resulting fallout and its subsequent abandonment was one of the major reasons why the Labour/Lib Dem group lost control of the council (the only time in the council’s history when it hasn’t been controlled by the Conservatives) after a series of defections. I suspect this is the major reason for Bromley Council’s cool attitude and reluctance to actively support or promote any subsequent proposals, lest they suffer the same fate.
I was searching for information about the line when I came across this strange short film that was shot mainly in the derelict high level station a few years before it was demolished:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=6&v=WwE_VHMN5s4
The line may never reopen but the grade 1 listed subway that used to connect the high level station to the Crystal Palace will be:
http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=21c34fb43e537f9791e120043&id=3a1c33767a&e=a7ca0095f6
re NTW,
Heritage restoration part sponsored by the local curry house!
For anyone who is interested, there is an open weekend 17th-18th September. After finally installing a new entrance to the subway, open days are being arranged with one this weekend on Saturday and Sunday.
https://m.facebook.com/events/933760806751446?acontext=%7B%22ref%22%3A104%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D&aref=104
Thanks NTW, I’ve added both days into the LR Events Calendar. LBM
I visited the subway on Saturday and took some photos which I can post if anyone is interested?
Toward the end of 1960,during my working holiday in London, my recollections
are : A high brick wall with platforms and bare track bases with most other
features being in place. Heavy smog of the time, prompted me to place a long stick
on the dividing wall for safe guidance to the residence on Church Rd.
We used to play in those tunnels in the mid sixties, up cox’s walk, down under the bridge, past the folly and into the tunnels singing the latest pop songs, gangs of us local kids having a wail of time, sadly they closed the tunnels and the ecomentalists moved in! a halcyon days then in 1963- 68.
I’ve seen photos of Upper Sydenham station in the last years of its existence. A green livered Bulleid designed all steel 4-SUB electric multiple unit train is seen either entering or leaving the station but not many people on board though.
A good read, with many superb photos of this line is:
The Crystal Palace High Level Railway, by John Gale, published by Lightmoor Press.
ISBN: 9781899889 62 4
There’s a typo in the caption for the third from last photo. It’s Brenchley Gardens, not Bunchley.