The sender of this card wrote in 1908 that "Godalming
is at its best now". It was sent to Mr. Jack H. Rockell
in Brixton. The image shows the Victorian station building on
Station Approach. Taxis have replaced the horses and carriages
and the station building has been restored relatively recently
but it otherwise looks very similar to the way it did a hundred
years ago. There used to be a "single dock" siding,
rather like the one there used to be at Farncombe, where
the car park is today. The building is now Grade II listed.
This was not the first station in the town. Godalming was
initially at the end of the railway line and the terminus was
on Old Station Road[1].
In 1855 Richard Masey Hillier was the Station Master there
and Godalming was described as being "on
the Guildford and Godalming railway ... The London and Portsmouth
railway, now in course of formation, will pass through the
town[2]".
The South Western Railway opened in 1859 and Godalming and Farncombe
were then served by two stations. Following the opening on
1st January it was reported that the station was still unfinished, "taxing
alike the ingenuity of the station master, as well as all the
employees to meet the requirements of the public".
A few days later the trains to Havant were said to be running
regularly and were "tolerably" well
filled with passengers[3].
There were eight trains daily[4] and
the line was initially single track. The station itself was
known as Godalming New.
One Saturday evening in December 1865 two cast iron chairs
were placed on the metal rails about a quarter of a mile to
the south of the station. Trains were normally full of passengers
at that time of day but fortunately that wasn't the case on
this occasion. The weight of the engine cut the chairs in two;
if it hadn't done so it was believed that the train, which
was close to a bridge when the accident occurred, would have
been derailed with considerable loss of life. It is not known
if the culprits were ever caught[5].
The following year a less than sober railway porter was fined
for trespassing on the line. An engine driver reported hitting
something and the man was quickly discovered, covered in sand,
by the railway clerk and another porter who went to investigate.
The inebriated porter claimed he was on the line because he
wanted to catch a train and had not heard anything before he
was knocked down. However, it was thought that it was more
likely that he'd fallen over and the train had just brushed
him when it passed rather than knocking him down[6].
He had a lucky escape.
In 1878 Frederick Charles Jearum (1846-1897) was the station
master at both stations; he lived on New Way with his wife
and family[7]. They
lived in the two storey station house, shown above
(the floor directly under the roof is designated as an attic).
The 1881 census records that he was born in Winchester and
was the father of seven children[8].
Mr. Martin W. Dodge was the goods manager at the old station
at the same time[7][8].
He lived at Old Station House in Old Station Road. W. Wiggins,
with premises in Bridge street, was a goods delivery agent[7].
Farncombe Railway station (see next
page) was opened in May 1897 and was then used by passengers
instead of the Old Godalming station; that station became
a goods depot[9].
In both 1901[10] and
1913[9] the following
men were listed at the Godalming station and the depot:
[Godalming] Station, Edgar Ernest Smith, station manager
; Alfred Perry, goods agent, at Goods Depot station (Mr.
Smith was born at Paddington and Mr. Perry at Salisbury).
Passengers used to access the "up" line via an underground passage/subway, which was inconvenient, never mind it
being unpleasant to walk through. This was finally changed when a new footbridge, complete with both lifts and staircases,
was installed in 2016. More canopies were erected over the platforms at the same time. It was a great improvement, especially
for the elderly and those with disabilities.
Godalming's station in 2024. The building is Grade II listed.
The forecourt is now awash with road signs and wider pavements, yet nowhere is immediately obvious for cars to drop off and pick
up passengers. According to one Local Councillor passengers can be dropped off and picked up where there are yellow lines! More
signage has been asked for!
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