View source for Hammersmith & Chiswick railway station

{{Short description|Former railway station in England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox London station
| name=Hammersmith & Chiswick 
| image_name = File:Hammersmith & Chiswick railway station, 1894.jpg
| caption = Map of station, 1894
| owner=[[North & South Western Junction Railway]] 
| locale=[[Chiswick]] 
| platforms=1 
| years1 = {{start date|1858|04|08|df=y}}
| events1 = Opened as Hammersmith
| years2 = 1 July 1880
| events2 = Renamed Hammersmith & Chiswick
| years3 = {{end date|1917|01|01|df=y}}
| events3 = Closed to Passengers
| years4  = 3 May 1965
| events4 = Closed Completely
| replace=[[Stamford Brook tube station|Stamford Brook]]
| coordinates = {{coord|51.4935|-0.2477|type:railwaystation_region:GB|display=title}}
}}
'''Hammersmith & Chiswick''' was a [[train station|railway terminus]] in west London that was opened in 1858 by the [[North & South Western Junction Railway]] and closed in 1917, during the [[World War I|First World War]].

Originally named Hammersmith but renamed Hammersmith & Chiswick in 1880,<ref name="Sub">{{cite web
  | last =Catford
  | first =Nick
  | title =Hammersmith & Chiswick
  | publisher =Subterranea Britannica
  | date =2005-01-28
  | url =http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/h/hammersmith_and_chicwick/index.shtml
  | access-date =2007-05-31  }}</ref> the station was located midway between [[Chiswick]] and [[Hammersmith]] and was intended to serve both areas.

==History==
Hammersmith station was opened on 8 April 1858 by the [[North & South Western Junction Railway]] (N&SWJR) on the site of a [[goods yard]], which had opened on 1 May 1857, on [[Chiswick High Road]] in what was then a rural area.<ref name="Middleton">{{cite book
  | last =Mitchell
  | first =Vic
  |author2=Smith, Keith
  | title =Willesden Junction to Richmond
  | publisher =Middleton Press
  | year =1996
  | location =Midhurst
  | isbn =1-873793-71-5  }}</ref> The station was at the end of a 1.5 mile (2.5&nbsp;km) branch line which ran northward from the [[North London Railway]] (NLR) line at [[South Acton railway station (England)|South Acton]] and turned sharply to run south into Hammersmith & Chiswick.

The station building was not purpose-built but was a converted private house. In 1904, a writer described it as "abounding with flowers, and resembling rather the terminus of some far distant country branch line than what one might expect to find at a place bearing the dual distinction of the names of two west London suburbs".<ref>{{cite web
  | last =Clegg
  | first =Gillian
  | title =Travel
  | publisher =Chiswick History
  | url =http://chiswickhistory.org.uk/html/150-travel.html
  | access-date =2007-05-31  }}</ref>

Until the [[interchange station]] at South Acton was opened on 1 January 1880, the branch line to Hammersmith & Chiswick employed an unusual mode of operation. Southbound NLR trains to [[Kew railway station, London|Kew]] (which was on the western chord to the [[Hounslow Loop Line|Hounslow Loop]] near the current [[Kew Bridge railway station|Kew Bridge station]]) included a carriage for passengers travelling to Hammersmith & Chiswick. This carriage was uncoupled from the rest of the train immediately south of the junction. The N&SWJR's sole locomotive would then reverse onto the mainline, be attached to the carriage, and take it down the short branch to Hammersmith & Chiswick.<ref name="Sub"/> From 1 January 1880, on the station opening at South Acton, passengers could change there from [[Broad Street railway station (England)|Broad Street]] to [[Richmond station (London)|Richmond]] trains onto the Hammersmith & Chiswick services.

Before the interchange at South Acton opened, one train per hour served the branch, while thereafter until closure there was one train every half-hour.<ref name="Middleton"/>

In an effort to boost passenger numbers, which had been badly affected by the opening of the nearby [[District line]] station at [[Stamford Brook tube station|Stamford Brook]], three intermediate [[Train station#Halt|halt]]s were opened on 8 April 1909: Rugby Road Halt, Woodstock Road Halt, and Bath Road Halt. These were little used, so trains stopped only on request.

[[File:Hammersmith & Chiswick station site geograph-3596502-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg|thumb|The site of the station, 2005]]

During the First World War, in 1917, all passenger services on the branch were suspended as a wartime economy measure and were never resumed. The three halts were closed only eight years after their opening. Hammersmith & Chiswick remained in use as a goods yard, primarily to serve a large coal depot.  As the demand for coal reduced the branch was permanently closed on 3 May 1965.<ref name="Middleton"/>

The station site was redeveloped in the 1980s and no trace remains.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/h/hammersmith_and_chicwick/index.shtml Subterranea Britannica entry on the station] with photographs of the  station in the last days of operation
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070509065535/http://www.disusedrailways.co.uk/Hammersmith_%26_Chiswick1.htm Disused Railways] entry on the branch
*[http://www.loveplums.co.uk/Tube/Hammersmith_and_Chiswick.html Photographs of the remaining structures on the route (2005)]
{{Disused Rail Start}}
{{Rail line|previous= [[Bath Road railway station|Bath Road]] |route=[[North & South Western Junction Railway]]<br /><small>Hammersmith branch</small>|col={{temporary rail colour|000000}} }}
{{s-end}}
{{Disused railway stations of London}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammersmith and Chiswick Railway Station}}
[[Category:Disused railway stations in the London Borough of Hounslow]]
[[Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1858]]
[[Category:Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1917]]
[[Category:Former North and South Western Junction Railway stations]]
[[Category:Chiswick]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Chiswick]]