Berrylands

Located 10-miles 78-chains from Waterloo, this station was a late addition to the main line serving that terminus, opening nearly a century after the first trains ran between the capital and Woking. The station's commissioning was in response to a substantial wave of house building on the eastern fringes of Surbiton, where a multitude of semi-detached properties became available.

A typical newspaper advert of the era described the then new Berrylands Estate as follows:

Surrey’s beautiful homesteads at Berrylands Surbiton. Every Berrylands house is artistically designed, and has an impressive exterior. The surroundings are beautiful; shops, railway station, and other amenities are close at hand. The estate will have a Park, with special facilities for sun-bathing and open-air swimming. The deposit is £50 - no road charges, legal fees or stamp duties whatsoever. Semi detached freehold homes in glorious Surrey £850 to £885. [Sunday Dispatch (London), 14th June 1931]

The railway station mentioned in the article was presumably Surbiton, because that at Berrylands did not come into use until 16th October 1933:

Berrylands, the new station between Surbiton and Malden, was opened this week, the trains stopping being those on the Waterloo - Hampton Court line. [The Surrey Advertiser and County Times, Saturday, 21st October 1933]

Two platforms formed of timber planks, 520-feet in length, were erected either side of the four-track main line, perched upon an embankment, serving only the local lines. The route had been four-track since quadrupling between Nine Elms and Surbiton as long ago as 1884, and electric services between Waterloo and Hampton Court had commenced on 18th June 1916. Each platform at Berrylands was host to an upward-sloping canopy, 150-feet-long; these were backed at their rear by timber, comprised plain valances of the same material, and were built to a standard Southern Railway design. Electric lighting was provided, supported upon concrete posts.

Station Names

There are certain cases in which the recent opening of a station adjacent to a signal-cabin which has been in existence for some time has resulted in the station and the cabin bearing different names, such as Berrylands station and Marsh Lane box on the Western Section main line of the S.R. The box doubtless derives its name from a road crossed by the railway in the vicinity, thus identifying the location of the box; but the station has been given the name of an adjacent building estate, of recent creation, and this is only reasonable. [The Railway Magazine, April 1935]

In his 1984 book, Railways of the Southern Region (PSL Field Guide), Geoffrey Body notes that a CLASP ticket office was provided at Berrylands at ground level in 1969. This was on the "down" side of the line; previously, no buildings existed below platform level. The platform canopies were also replaced by prefabricated CLASP structures and the staircases enclosed; however photographs from 1970 still show the original SR structures at platform level, suggesting their replacements came into use slightly later than the 1969 ticket office.

Today, Berrylands remains in its CLASP form, but changes have occurred since this rebuild. In 2014, the "up" platform was extended at it western end by 205-feet; the "down" platform was also extended westward, by 155-feet, using concrete components.

26th May 1967

BR Standard 5MT 4-6-0 No. 73085 is seen proceeding through Berrylands on the "down" fast whilst heading the 2:54 PM Waterloo to Salisbury passenger service. The timber planking of the "down" platform here is obvious; the concrete lampposts and - in the distance - the upward-sloping canopy were original features from opening. © David Glasspool Collection

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