County School Station

While most of our stations were built by the Norfolk Railway when the line opened, County School was added by the Great Eastern Railway in 1886, as a junction station for the East Norfolk Railway's line to Aylsham and Wroxham.  Originally planned to be built at Broom Green, the railway was persuaded to move the station and points 1 mile further south to serve the Norfolk County School. In 1903 the Norfolk County School became the Watts Naval School, but the station kept its original name. A result of relocating the station was that the two branch lines ran beside each other for the mile northwards to Broom Green, creating a section of line that frequently saw unofficial races between Wells and Wroxham-bound trains.

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In 1915, a goods train from Wroxham and a passenger train from Wells met at Broom Green and appear to have raced each other on the approach to County School. Sadly, the goods driver misread the signals and the two trains collided on the points outside County School signal box. Luckily, nobody was hurt – but a buffer from one of the engines was found on site, and is now displayed at the station.

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In 1954, the complicated track layout, and quiet nature, of the site was chosen by British Railways as an ideal location for much of the principal filming of their driver training films used during the introduction of Diesel Multiple Unit trains. Driving trailer car E56301 is displayed at the station to mark this connection to the British Railways Modernisation Plan.  The branch to Wroxham had closed in 1952, although a short section to Foulsham remained in use for goods until 1964. Final passenger closure came under the Beeching Cuts in 1964. A year later, the station was chosen as a location in “Weavers Green”, a short-lived Anglia Television rural soap opera. Soon after this, the island platform building and signal boxes were demolished and much of the track removed. A single line through the site survived to serve the remaining goods trains until it was closed and lifted in 1983.

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Activity resumed at the station in 1987, with track through the station being relaid and opened as a demonstration line by 1990 – operated by a private company. In 1992, the station became “Gare De Nouvion” in the penultimate episode of wartime sitcom “Allo, Allo”.

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In 1996, following the closure of the previous operation, the Mid-Norfolk Railway signed a lease for the site, and raised £28,000 to refurbish the buildings to LNER condition. In 1999, the MNR purchased the site from Breckland District Council. In 2005, the refurbished station featured as Eynsford station in the television movie “Peter Warlock: Some Little Joy”.  The North Norfolk Model Engineering Club moved to the site in 2019, beginning work on the Wensum Valley Miniature Railway in 2021. This 3.5 and 5 inch gauge line uses part of the old Wroxham branch north of the station, and is open to passengers on selected Sundays.

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At the moment, no standard gauge trains operate at the site, but efforts to return trains to the site are ongoing. There is a museum telling some of the stories of the station, school and local area and a popular Tea Room, which is open at weekends for most of the year. The station is also the start of a number of local walks, and is signposted from the nearby National Cycle Network.

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Written by R Cullen