Bradshaw’s Britain: Havant to Guildford

For his tenth and final foray onto the south of England’s rail network armed with Bradshaw’s 1863 Handbook (or at least a facsimile copy of it), Stephen Roberts tackles a section of the Portsmouth Direct Line to London.

In this article:

• Portsmouth lacked a direct rail link to London initially; the Portsmouth Direct Line, completed in 1859, resolved this.
• Stops along the line, like Havant and Petersfield, highlight historical landmarks, inns, and notable events, past and present.
• Guildford, the line's major hub, boasts rich history, architectural gems, and connections to notable figures like Alan Turing.

Portsmouth was neglected by the railways at first.

The London & Southampton Railway (L&SR) had opened to Southampton in May 1840, with an extension to Gosport (November 1841) bringing the railway within sight of Portsmouth - albeit the other side of Portsmouth Harbour, so necessitating a boat trip to actually reach Portsmouth itself.

This would be rectified by the extension of the Brighton and Chichester Railway, which opened to Havant in March 1847 and then to Portsmouth in June 1847.

The completion of a triangular junction connecting Cosham (Southampton-bound) with Havant (Chichester-bound) and Hilsea (Portsmouth-bound), effectively by the following year (1848), resolved the Portsmouth issue for now.

But what the naval city lacked was a direct train of its own to London.

The Direct Line

The Portsmouth Direct Line is the route betwixt Woking (Surrey) and Portsmouth (Hampshire).

Today, it is the principal line for passengers travelling between the capital, the cathedral town of Guildford (a seeming misnomer in itself, as a cathedral normally goes hand in glove with city status), and the naval base and ferry port of Portsmouth.

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