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Wigan Chapel Lane | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Location | Wigan England |
| Coordinates | 53°32′30″N 2°37′48″W / 53.5418°N 2.6300°W |
| Grid reference | SD583052 |
| Other information | |
| Status | Disused |
| History | |
| Original company | Wigan Branch Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 3 September 1832 | Opened |
| 31 October 1838 | Closed |
Wigan Chapel Lane railway station served the town of Wigan in Lancashire, England.
The station opened as Wigan on 3 September 1832 as the terminus of the Wigan Branch Railway (WBR) when it opened the 6 miles 47 chains (10.6 km) long line from Parkside on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.[a][1][2]
The station building was located to the south of the running line adjacent to Chapel Lane, no other details are known.[3] The station was only known as Wigan and Chapel Lane was added in an explanatory way as to the location of the Railway's office.[4]
The station was short-lived as the line was extended northwards to Preston in 1838 necessitated taking it over Wallgate, the turnpike to Warrington, which required the building of substantial embankments, a new station, Wigan North Western was constructed to the south of this new bridge over Wallgate.[5][6]
After closure in 1838 the station site became Wigan goods station.[6] The goods station and yard gradually expanded until there were three sheds, it was able to accommodate most types of goods including live stock, and was equipped with a ten-ton crane.[7][8][9] Sometime between 1938 and 1956 the yard lost its capacity to deal with livestock and its crane was downgraded to one of four tons.[10][11]
The goods yard was still in use in 1957 but by 2008 the goods sheds had been demolished and the goods yard site was occupied by a retail warehouse and car park.[3][8]