The station time forgot

Fetham station is supposed to have been one mile north of Steyning on the Brighton to Horsham line, which closed in 1966.

But it seems to have come and gone with nobody having any recollection of it.

A rail map from the old British Railways property division shows Fetham station, with a signal box, near Bramber Castle.

It has a note in brackets saying: "Closed and demolished October 20, 1963."

But nobody can remember the station existing in the West Sussex countryside and there is no sign of any buildings there today.

The mystery station came to light when Philip Barnes was researching his booklet, The Steyning Line Rail Tour.

The former photographer on The Argus, who is an information officer at Brighton and Hove City Council, came across the mystery Fetham station as he carried out research.

He said: "I was very surprised to find the official British Railways map from its land-owning division, clearly showing Fetham station with a signal box.

"I was even more surprised to see the note beside it that it had been closed and demolished.

"Nobody can remember it existing or a signal box at the spot. It must be the first railway station in Britain that was closed before it was opened.

"I mentioned the station in my booklet, published last year, which has been read by many people who used the line over its 105- year history, but nobody has come back to me saying they can remember Fetham station."

Chris Tod, honorary curator of Steyning Museum, has a display dedicated to the line at the museum in Church Street.

He is also mystified at the appearance of Fetham on the rail map.

He said: "Somebody working for British Rail must have thought it existed. My own view is that it was a pick-up point for milk or farm produce and there were plans to build a small station there.

"When it was decided to close the line, they felt they had to tidy things up officially so the map showed the station had been closed and demolished, even though there is no evidence of it ever being built."